Finally
by Airanke
Summary: Tsunade decides that it's high time Hidan was dug out of his hole. However, he seems to have lost his pride and arrogance. Can Sakura help him get it back, and can he help her learn to love again?
1. Chapter 1

Nare, you better be proud of me. This chapter is only like, two pages long in openoffice. You hear me?? TWO FREEAKING PAAAAAAAAAGES LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!! *takes a deep breath* This is my first Hidan/Sakura fic. I wonder why, considering HidaSaku was 2nd after KisaSaku. Wow. I need to write about Kisame more often *goes off to plot a nice background story for him* By the way, HidaKona has taken over as 1st, followed closely by KisaSaku, with every other pairing I've ever loved trailing faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar behind XD. Yeah okay. That was so random.

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**Chapter 1: So broken**

"Dig him up?! _Why??_"

Tsunade sighed, resting her head in her hands. It had been eight years since the attack on Konoha ended, and Tsunade thought it was due time they dug up the immortal. The Nara land hadn't been that badly damaged in the attack, even after Pein used _Shinra Tensei_. The only problem was, was that Konoha was still under construction. Tsunade had thought that the immortal might not only come in handy for dangerous missions, but that he would be able to bring some happiness to a certain girl's life.

For some unknown reason, however, Shikamaru _still_ hadn't let go of his teacher, Asuma, whom this immortal had killed.

Remembering that she didn't know much about the man, she dug out the mission statement and scanned through it while Shikamaru babbled and Ino, Chouji and others stood around listening.

_'From Yugakure... Yugakure? Hm... ah! His name's Hidan,'_ she glanced up when Shikamaru brought his palms down on her desk, making a loud sound.

"Are you even listening to me? It would be a drag to have to repeat myself."

She raised an eyebrow, looked down at the sheet again, noted the fact that Hidan was obscene, loud and arrogant before saying to Shikamaru, "if this is still about the fact that he killed Asuma, I won't be impressed."

Her gaze was steady even when Ino gasped and the rest of the shinobi present stared at her in shock. The room was heavy with silence as she stared at Shikamaru, his mouth slightly open from surprise. Tsunade stood abruptly and headed for the door.

"Then I'll tell you now that you need to _grow up_. I'm going to oversee the digging up. Dismissed.

She hurried out to the Nara forest, afraid for a moment that Shikamaru would try to stop the crew there. She calmed though, when she arrived and found that the ANBU units had already cleared half the rocks from the hole, and already had a bag full of body parts. An arm was produced from the hole, and another ANBU member took it, reaching to carefully place it in the bag.

"Let me see that arm," Tsunade commanded, holding out her hand. The ANBU nodded and handed it to her, before catching a foot and scolding, "hey, be careful! These are damaged enough as it is!"

A mumbled, "sorry" was heard from the depths of the pit, followed by "it's just getting harder to pass up the parts, that's all."

"Oh. Then toss them more carefully. And let me know!"

"Hai!"

Tsunade inspected the arm, startled when the hand flexed in response to her chakra.

_'Well I'll be – this arm is in perfect condition! Except for the fact that it doesn't have it's body...'_ she gazed at the sack, _'yet.'_

Suddenly there was a cry of joy, followed by a whoop, "found him! Found his head!"

Tsunade quickly strode to the edge of the hole, handing the arm to the ANBU that had given it to her. She got down on her knees at the edge, leaning over slightly to take the head that was handed to her in her arms. She turned it a few ways, wondering where his face was before giving up and sifting through his hair.

"I'm surprised that his hair still grew," the ANBU captain commented, jumping up from inside the hole. A medic followed him – a young man – and he made a few seals, double checking to make sure they had everything. He frowned; Tsunade was still trying to find Hidan's face.

"We're missing a hand. I'd really like to find it," the medic told the captain. The captain stretched, "yeah, we'll find it. Just give us a moment to rest, please?"

"Okay, okay," the medic sighed before plopping down next to a tree. The captain took off his gloves before he stretched more.

"I'll be good to go in about five minutes."

"Hai."

Tsunade's fingers finally brushed over a nose and she sighed in relief before sifting his hair out of the way. She stared at his face, mesmerized and shocked.

_'He looks so young... so... so... I – I don't know what to say... Immortality sure is... interesting.'_

Currently his eyes were closed, and she inspected one of the eyelids. It was a bit purple, _'a rock probably bashed this eye. Hm. Rocks seem to have bashed his entire face.'_

She found several other purple bruises and frowned, _'the only thing marring his chiseled features... I need to get him back together as soon as possible.'_

As soon as she began to gently finger the long tendrils of his hair, his eyes shot open. Tsunade and the ANBU froze. She waited for the onslaught of colorful words to stream from his mouth, and the ANBU tensed their hands around their weapons.

Not a single word left his mouth.

Tsunade blinked, then let herself breath more evenly again.

_'Not a single word. He's just... staring at me like a lost child,'_ the bright violet orbs looked around, widening a bit with fear at the sight of the ANBU. A sound like a whimper seemed to escape from his lips and Tsunade tried to comfort him.

"No, no they aren't here to hurt you. They dug you up, under my orders. I'm Tsunade, the Hokage," in a slightly mocking tone she added, "whatever happened to the loud mouth Shikamaru told me about?"

Hidan blinked at her, no words leaving his mouth. Tsunade's brow creased with worry, and she brought Hidan's head closer to her face, "are you going to talk?"

His expression saddened and he looked down, obviously trying to use his hair to shield his face. Tsunade quickly pulled him against her chest and stood, motioning to the ANBU. They stood, one hefting the bag as gently as possible onto his back.

"Mel, you and the captain stay. Find that hand you say is missing. In the mean time, I'm going to put him as much together as possible. Come!"

They all sprinted back to the village, Tsunade cradling Hidan in her arms.

* * *

Tsunade is being all motherly and sweet. This is how I want her to be in this fic towards Hidan. So live with it. And uh, Hidan is majorly OOC during the first few chapters of this. I mean, wouldn't you be if you told some fifteen-year-old punk - who's just blown you up - that you're god's gonna' save you and _then_ that doesn't happen? Yeah. I think my pride would be pretty shot too. Tell me what you think, and review! Besides.. I _think_ I have annoymous reviews enabled. I think.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsunade is obviously disappointed with Shikamaru. He's probably going to be a jerk of epic proportions in this story. Don't worry; Sakura makes her debut next chapter :) until then, Enjoy!

Songs: "True Colors" by Serena Paris and Phil Collins.

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**Chapter 2: Stitched, but wounded.**

Tsunade eyed Shikamaru suspiciously, her gaze hard. She knew that he knew he wasn't trusted to be within twenty meters of Hidan. He kept his distance and watched as best he could through the operation window, his glare fixed upon the long haired immortal.

Tsunade scowled, "Mel, finish sewing this arm on."

"Hai," the young man said, taking Tsunade's place. She walked around the operation table and placed herself in Shikamaru's line of sight, threading a new needle and starting with Hidan's left shoulder. She chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw the look of disbelief on Shikamaru's face before returning to the task at hand.

She let Mel sew Hidan's legs together while she and a few of the other female medics organized some items for cleaning and regenerating parts of the body that had been lost.

"I figure Hidan will be more comfortable with a man tending to his lower body," she whispered to them before adding, "I beg you not to look. The man is already damaged enough as it is, and I don't mean that in a physical way."

The girls nodded and a few blushed. They expertly busied themselves with organizing items, or left the room with a clipboard or piece of paper shielding their eyes. Mel pulled a white sheet onto Hidan and approached Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama."

"I thought I told you to call me either shishou or Tsunade."

"Shishou. I'm done though he seems... I mean I just find it strange that..." he bit his lip, unsure if he should continue or not. Tsunade's brows furrowed, "continue, Mel."

"I'm worried. He's not talking. He didn't even squeak in pain, or make any sound and it's got me worried," he glanced over his shoulder at Hidan, torn between trying to get him to talk or let Tsunade do it. She smiled at him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Mel, let me take care of it. We can't force him to talk; that may only worsen the situation. I'll do my best to get him to move though. I want to make sure we've attactched him properly. Also, I need to spread this salve where bits of his body may be missing," she held up the jar. The salve was a pale peach color, so it wouldn't be that obvious on Hidan's skin.

"Go take a break. All of you. Leave me alone with Hidan," to Mel she said, "and take Shikamaru out of here."

The medic nodded and followed after the others. Tsunade watched as Mel convinced Shikamaru to come with him, and she noticed the look of disapproval on Shikamaru's face. She scowled, _'if he starts disliking people for being kind to Hidan, I'm going to put him through therapy.'_

She approached Hidan, who was lying on the table unmoving, violet eyes fixed on an invisible point in the ceiling. She sighed and rested her hand on his forehead, making his eyes widen briefly. He looked at her, a strange sadness in those once proud eyes.

"Are you in pain?" she asked, brushing hair out of his face. He shook his head as she expected. She pushed him over a little before sitting on the table herself, resting her hand on top of his.

"Will you talk to me, or do you need more time?"

She knew that it would be difficult for him to answer the question without speaking, but he made it obvious that he wanted – no, needed more time before speaking to anyone.

_'Is he that emotionally hurt? Then I need to get him acquainted with Sakura. Quickly. If she had the ability to forgive Sasuke so quickly, then I pray that she has the ability to forgive Hidan just as quickly.'_

She rubbed a thumb over Hidan's temple, dragging her hand down the side of his face in a motherly gesture. She sighed and almost drew her hand away, but Hidan had leaned his face into her palm, closing his eyes. She smiled softly, stroking his cheek with her thumb.

_'This. This I consider progress. He is beginning to trust me.'_

It was a good thing for him to being to trust her, and so she tried again, "are you sure you don't want to speak?"

His eyes opened and his lips twisted down in a frown someone might give before bursting into tears. Tsunade's worry got the better of her, and she watched as Hidan raised an arm and brought it over his eyes. She pulled him up into a sitting position immediately, letting his head rest against her shoulder. He lowered his arm, leaning more heavily against her.

_'Trust me,'_ she pleaded inwardly, _'trust me.'_

She pulled the sheet more fully around him, and the door to the operation room suddenly opened. She allowed an angered expression to cross her features, "leave."

"But, Tsunade-sama I-"

"_Leave_, Shikamaru!" her hazel eyes glared angrily at him. He blinked and shrunk back, before withdrawing completely.

Two hours later found Hidan sleeping lightly on the couch that was in the Hokage's office. Tsunade stayed in her office all night, watching over the immortal. Eventually she yawned and stretched, eying the couch.

_'I'll just rest my head here, and take him to see Sakura tomorrow,' _she decided, laying her head against the couch near his stomach. His hand gingerly touched her head, and she smiled.

"Sleep, Hidan. You need it."

She watched in silent awe as he obeyed, his violet eyes closing, hand resting against her head.

--

When Hidan woke up, it was not to a pleasant sight. The Hokage had pinned Shikamaru to the wall, the teen protesting, "his hand was on your head!"

"He was asleep!" Tsunade defended vehemently, "it was a gentle gesture of trust! And what makes you think you're allowed to come waltzing into my office first thing in the morning? Because _he's _here?"

She jerked her head in Hidan's direction, glaring at Shikamaru before dropping the teen and whirling on her feet. She approached him swiftly, heels clicking against the floor.

"You're awake!" she dropped down to her knees in front of him, "good morning."

Shikamaru made a sound the bordered on gagging, and Tsunade whipped her head around to him, "if you don't like it, then _get out_."

The shadow user scurried out, glaring at Hidan. Hidan averted his eyes, opting for staring at Tsunade instead.

_'... I guess I can trust her. But I don't want to freaking talk. I don't want to,'_ he stared at her in an almost pleading sort of way, _'don't make me talk.'_

--

Tsunade stared into those violet orbs, deciding that if she was any younger she would drown in them. She could almost read the words in his eyes and she spoke gently, "I'm not going to force you to talk. I just want you to talk... eventually. Don't worry about it now," she stood and walked away, looking around, "hm, now where did I – Oh yes! I remember!"

She approached her desk and rummaged around in the largest drawer, pulling out a few articles of clothing. She walked back over to Hidan, who had sat up on the couch. She knelt down in front of him and held out the clothes, smiling. His hair fell in curtains around his face, and she wondered if he looked different with short hair.

_'I feel silly,'_ she laughed inwardly as Hidan accepted the clothes, setting the shirt aside. He stared at her and she blinked, before a light blush skittered over her cheeks. She jumped up and turned around. She was about to speak when a hand touched her waist.

She looked over her shoulder to see that Hidan had already changed into the new pair of pants, leaving the rest of the clothes on the couch; his old pants were resting on the arm of the couch.

_'I need to be sure to return those to Mel.'_

"Come along, then. I need to introduce you to the girl that will be looking after you," inwardly she added, _'and hopefully get you to speak.'_

Hidan followed her faithfully down the hall, not even glancing at shinobi who passed by.

Once they were a little more than halfway to Sakura's new apartment, Tsunade stopped. She turned to Hidan, debating about whether or not it was a good idea to leave him here alone.

"Stay here. I'll return shortly; ten minutes at the most," she looked around before resting her eyes on him again and noticing the look of panic and fear in his eyes. She bit her lip, thought better and took a step back.

He took a small step forward but ducked his head and stepped back, hair falling about his face.

_'Oh now he's making me feel guilty,'_ Tsunade fought with herself for a moment, and an idea came to her. She raised a hand and touched his shoulder. He lifted his head slightly, so she could see his eyes.

"This might sting a bit. I promise that if you get hurt I'll come running. This will let me know when you're in danger."

She watched as he nodded and then she pulsed her chakra through him, earning only a small wince. She smiled and took off; she planned to be less than five minutes, if she could.

--

_'... I don't want to be here alone,'_ Hidan hugged himself and pressed his back against the wall, _'not alone in this – this freaking huge village! I'll trust her, though. I'll frikkin' force myself to trust her b – crap!'_

He felt Shikamaru's presence before he saw him, and to Hidan's black luck the shadow user was standing across from him, glaring. Hidan tried to press harder against the wall, wishing he had learned how to merge with walls from Zetsu when the man had offered. And now that man was dead.

"Hey," Shikamaru called, a mocking tone to his voice, "whatever happened to the arrogant bastard that told me his god was going to smite me."

_'Don't talk. Don't speak. Jashin left you,'_ a voice in his mind said, and so Hidan ignored Shikamaru, clenching his hands around his biceps. Shikamaru tilted his head and took a step closer.

"Not going to talk, are you? Not even yell? Curse? Gee, whatever happened to you in that hole?" Shikamaru wondered out loud deliberately. His smirk turned to a scowl though, and he took a few more steps forward.

Hidan dropped down to the ground and Shikamaru released a short curse.

_'I might have been underground for eight years, you little punk, but I'm still a shinobi,'_ Hidan wanted so badly to say, but he was afraid to provoke the teen, have himself get nearly blown apart again and then be blamed and imprisoned. He didn't need that happening.

He glanced up at the three kunai that had embedded themselves in the wall where he had been standing.

_'If I'd let those hit me though... he's get into a shit load of trouble,'_ Hidan mused, eying Shikamaru warily. A bunch of kids had gathered around him, and to Hidan the kids looked like they were Shikamaru's cousins. The teen nodded at them, then took off. People walking down the street stopped, looking between the immortal and the kids.

Hidan curled up, expecting objects to be thrown at him. He was correct, and several items hit him. He wasn't quite sure what a few of the items were, but he knew that a few of them were rocks. He stayed unmoving on his side though, his arms shielding his face.

A woman started yelling at the children but the onslaught didn't stop. He felt approaching chakra though, like a storm and he chanced a glance to see the Hokage thundering toward him, with a mass of rainclouds following her.

--

Tsunade was furious. She had been half-way through explaining the situation to Sakura when she had felt the first sense that Hidan was being attacked. Not really attacked, but rather mocked, and after apologizing to Sakura she stormed out of the girl's home.

The first thing Tsunade noticed was the large group of people. Next was Hidan lying on the ground, unmoving, his position slightly defensive. Next was the flying rock.

She caught it in her hand, standing over Hidan defensively. The rock was crushed to dust within seconds, fluttering to the ground, absolutely harmless.

"The next one who throws something _will_ be punished," she hissed angrily, glaring at each of the children. They all grew frightened and darted away, glancing back more than once. Tsunade's blazing hazel eyes followed them before she spun and dropped, tugging gently at Hidan.

"Hidan? Hidan? Are you alright?" it was a rather dumb question, but she wasn't about to ask him to talk to her. He lifted his head slightly, enough that his hair parted and she saw a shimmer of violet. She breathed a sigh of relief, but she knew that he was hurt.

A woman from the crowd came forward, "is there anything I can do to help, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. Inform every single one of your friends that this man is not an enemy and will be treated with respect or Kami help me I will punish _everybody. _I will not take anything done to him lightly. And be sure to tell them to tell their friends and so forth. Hopefully word will be all around the village by morning. I will inform the shinobi myself."

The woman nodded and hurried off, summoning several people to her side. Tsunade sent out a call for an ANBU squad – Rill's squad to be exact. What better squad to call than the one that had dug up Hidan?

She suddenly felt drawing on her leg and glanced down. Hidan was dragging a finger around on her leg.

_'So he's willing to speak... through writing,'_ she focused on what he was writing, and as Rill and his squad showed up her face contorted with fury.

"Shikamaru..."

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Not too confusing I hope xD. I'm just cautious because MLMD is like that... /sigh. Rill. Lol. Dunno, just picked a random name.


	3. Chapter 3

Chouji is an absolute sweety in this chapter =). I've decided that Ino and Chouji have already let go of Asuma, and are therefore willing to forgive Hidan. Plus, Sakura makes her appearance and LO! she is to wash teh dirty Hidan xD. Enjoy (and please read VAMP. Please? *puss n' boots face*)

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**Chapter 3: Clean up.**

"Set him in there, Rill, just in the water there."

"While he still has clothes on, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade was silent. She opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure of what to say. Rill was probably giving her a disbelieving look and then he spoke to Hidan, "hey, I'm gonna' leave you in here. I'm pretty sure you can get in the water yourself."

Hidan's head shook positively and Rill nodded before setting him down on the ground. He walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him, then he removed his mask to reveal a long haired blonde with brilliant green eyes.

"So... Tsunade-same. Shall I go get Sakura for you?"

"If you will, Rill. She should still be in her apartment. The poor girl; I kind of just ran out on her. I need you to bring her to me first, so I can finish explaining this little mission to her," her hazel eyes flicked in the direction of the door when splashing water was heard. Rill nodded before replacing his mask and darting off. Tsunade leaned against the wall adjacent to the door of the bathroom.

She snapped her head in the direction of Mel, who was walking stiffly toward her. When he came to a stop at her side he kept his head down and asked quietly, "are you going to confront Shikamaru or not?"

"I'm not going to. Not yet. Not until he does something absolutely unforgivable. I know that may sound like a bad idea, but I can't exactly call him out for... _encouraging_ children to throw who knows what at Hidan."

Mel nodded and turned sharply on his heel. Tsunade watched him as he stalked away, _'he will make an amazing medic one day. And he really cares about Hidan. I'll see to getting him and Sakura to work with the immortal – after he starts talking.'_

Clacking heels were heard against the ceramic tile floor and Tsunade turned her head to the right, watching as Sakura and Rill came rushing toward her.

Sakura was wearing a basic medic uniform, not her usual outfit with the red and white top and tan medic skirt.

"Shishou! Will you finish explaining now?"

"Yes, Sakura," she nodded to Rill and the ANBU captain left, "as you already know, I only trust you with this because I'm certain you will be the most forgiving, seeing as you weren't very close with Asuma."

Tsunade knew that Sakura's heart had just stopped, "... what?"

"I want you to look after and protect Hidan, ex-Akatsuki member and technically the only one still alive. He doesn't talk, he barely moves and if there's anything left of his pride as a shinobi it's _gone_. He... he's in very bad emotional state. He's in there," she nodded to the bathroom door, "though I doubt he's done anything. Please be gentle with him, Sakura. He will be a great asset to the village. And a powerful ally. I want you to try and get him to talk to you and trust you but _do not_ force him to speak. Just randomly talk about things, like a show you watched yesterday or something silly Naruto did. I don't care, just be kind and gentle, and forgive him."

--

"... and forgive him."

Sakura stared into the eyes of her mentor. She trusted Tsunade, and Tsunade trusted her. Sakura braced herself for the worst; perhaps if she went in there he might start yelling at her. She had to be sure to keep her temper in check and not hit him through the wall.

"Alright. I'll do it. I swear I'll be gentle with him," Sakura bowed slightly, her shoulder length hair dropping past her cheeks. She straightened.

"Thank you, Sakura. He's... not the same as he used to be, I believe. He hasn't even yelled at Shikamaru yet."

Sakura's hand froze on the knob of the door, _'what?! He hasn't even -!'_ and out loud she said, "not even a little curse?"

"No," Tsunade paused, "have you met him before?"

"Actually, I haven't. Sai and I were just running on our way to help Shikamaru... uh, defeat him, I guess, but when we got to the Nara forests Shikamaru was already done."

Tsunade shuffled away from the wall and started down the hall, "I ask you to be gentle Sakura, because his body has only been together for about three days. We can't yet remove the stitches."

Sakura nodded, took a breath, and entered into the room while praying, _'Kami, help me forgive him.'_

Apparently Kami heard her, because as soon as she closed the door and Hidan turned his head her heart melted. He looked so distressed and... scared of her.

_'Scared?! No, no don't be scared!'_

"It's okay. I'm here to look after you. So um, you're Hidan," he nodded, violet eyes not leaving her green orbs. She smiled, "I'm Sakura. I'm Tsunade's apprentice."

It seemed as though his lips had twitched at one side, and Sakura's heart fluttered. She stared wide-eyed down at her chest at that sensation, _'my – my heart just skipped a beat? But after Sasuke... after what he... what he did to me...'_ she took a steadying breath and stormed over to the shelf, grabbing a bottle of liquid soap – lilac scented – and a sponge, _'stop thinking about that, Sakura! He lead you on, and then broke your heart, after all you'd done for him. Just forget about it.'_

She approached Hidan, setting down the items. He wouldn't stop staring at her, and when she dipped the sponge in the water he tensed. She stopped moving and stared at him, letting him read her eyes, _'I won't hurt you. You don't look like you're going to do this yourself, so I'll do it for you.'_

Finally he straightened a bit more, and she squirted some soap onto the sponge. After scrubbing his shoulders – and gently brushing his hair out of the way – she recalled Tsunade's advice, _"just randomly talk about things, like a show you watched yesterday or something silly Naruto did."_

"So, yesterday I was watching this show on T.V. It was called... now what was it? Oh yeah. Who's Line Is It Anyway. I had never laughed so hard in my life. Three of the contestants had to sing a song, right, but they could only say one word at a time. And they had to sing the romance song from a hit Broadway musical called 'Cheese' or something like that. Honestly? I don't think such a Broadway exists. It was really funny though. I almost died of laughter."

He turned his head a little more toward her as she scooped some water up in a ladle and poured it over his shoulders. She eventually noticed that he was watching her more closely, so she took it as a sign that he was interested in what she had to say.

"You know my friend Naruto? Uh, well, no actually, I don't think you would. You haven't met him," she giggled at her own stupidity, "anyway, about a week ago he broke into my house looking for ramen. _Ramen. _Can you believe he broke into my house for ramen? Yeah, I couldn't either," she agreed when he shook his head, "so he was trying really hard not to make a racket but... he's really clumsy. So he hit one pot, and everything near it crashed everywhere. I was _so_ mad. I chased him half way around the block, in my pajamas and then made him clear up the mess he made. He's such a klutz, honestly."

She grew silent as she started scrubbing the sponge over his chest. His very well toned and nicely shaped chest, Inner Sakura so kindly informed her. She blushed.

And suddenly, Hidan started laughing.

Sakura blinked at him as his laughter died down, and then a mischievous smile claimed her lips as she said, in a voice a mother would use with a child, "you're _ticklish_ aren't you?"

He started shaking his head vigorously, trying to scoot away from her but her fingers trailed lightly over his ribs. His laughter started bubbling out of his mouth, and finally she stopped, laughing herself.

_'Oh, he's just too cute! Oh! Back to business,'_ she dipped the ladle in the water again, pouring water over his chest and head.

"I won't do that again. Really," she tried to sound convincing but she couldn't help smiling, _'I got him to laugh! That's progress!'_

Sakura realized that a _certain_ part of his body needed washing, but she wasn't exactly brave enough to do it. Blush skittered over her cheeks and she silently handed him the sponge. One of his large hands wrapped around it curiously.

"Um, you can, well, you know. I – I'll just go stand by the door!" Sakura explained before getting up and clinging to what she could of the door with all her might. She waited for several minutes, turning when she was sure he was done.

She walked back over and knelt back down behind him, picking up the bottle of shampoo and squirting some into her hand. She massaged it into his scalp, liking how he tipped his head back and made a gurgling sound in his throat. She scooted a bit closer to the edge of the huge wooden tub, lightly pressing her chest to his back.

"Can you just, duck under the water to get most of these suds out?" she asked and when he submerged himself in the hot water she got up and hopped over to the cabinet. After searching through it she found a pair of scissors, and carefully she made a note on her clipboard, _got him to laugh, found out he's ticklish. Smiles don't last long, though._

She walked back over to him, as small frown gracing her lips when she saw that he had his original solemn expression plastered on his face.

"I'm thinking you don't really like your long hair. Plus, I don't like how it hides your face. But maybe you like that," he gave a slow nod and she hesitated then asked, "can I cut it off for you?"

He contemplated her question, then nodded. She knelt again, feeling a bit giddy, "how short?"

He raised a hand and held it at the nape of his neck, then dropped it about a centimeter lower.

_'I'll cut it so that his hair just barely brushes his shoulders,'_ she decided as he lowered his hand. She raised the scissors and cut.

His hair fell to the floor in large groups, shimmering in the light. When Sakura was done she stood and walked back to put the scissors in their place and write on the clipboard, _cut off hair._

When she turned back around her heart stopped. He was staring at her, violet eyes bright from the steam rising in the tub, his silver hair slicked back from his face.

She had to remind herself to breathe.

_'Woah, take it easy girl. Take it easy,'_ she started back toward him when there was a knock on the door. Sakura froze and tensed, and Hidan tensed too. She knew that chakra signature.

Approaching the door she opened it a bit to reveal Chouji.

"Oh! Hi, Sakura."

"Hi, Chouji. What do you need?"

"It – it's not what I need um," he shifted uneasily on his feet, before holding the basket in his hands toward her, "I – I mean my mom – no, my mom and I, we – we made these for him. I-I swear they aren't like, poisoned or anything so uh," he shoved the basket toward her, "here. You – You can check them for poison if you want."

Sakura blinked at him, then smiled and accepted the basket, "thank you, Chouji."

He smiled happily, nodded and then darted off down the hall. Sakura closed the door and immediately checked the rice balls for poison. There were absolutely no traces, _'it's not that I don't trust him. I just have to be extra careful with Team ten.'_

She walked toward Hidan, who was eying the rice balls suspiciously, "they're okay," she informed him, holding one out, "they're not poisoned. I checked already."

He just continued to stare at it, completely unconvinced. So Sakura raised it to her mouth – and immediately wanted them all to herself – and held out the bitten part to her.

"See? If it was poisoned, don't you think I would have hesitated?"

He continued to stare at her and her innocent smile faltered, _'he doesn't trust me.'_

She brightened though, when he raised a hand, but blinked and blushed when he rested it on her face. He picked something off; it was a bit of rice.

Then he stuck it in his mouth. She bravely touched the rice ball in her hand to his lips, and he finally opened his mouth and bit it, watching her then entire time.

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Hope you enjoyed that! =)


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this chapter is kinda short (though my darling Nare shall say it's perfect haha!) but... I plan on having more than this story updated today.

Song listened to: "Kiss me thru the phone" by Soulja Boy ft. Sammie

Oh and....

_HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM HONG KONG!!!!! _:D  
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**Chapter 4: Familiar feeling.**

Sakura's heart thumped rapidly in her chest as he turned his attention to her fingers, licking them off. It was a very strange feeling, his tongue against her fingers. His tongue, Inner Sakura noticed, was also very long. Sakura quickly shut out her inner demon before any more naughty thoughts could come into her mind.

She glanced down at the basket and silently hoped he would eat the rest of them himself, but he just sat there calmly, staring at her.

She swallowed thickly and picked up another one, holding it to his lips. He took his sweet time eating it too, and she silently cursed him.

When he finished licking off her fingers she drew her hand back, clenching her hands in her lap, glancing at the last one. Her stomach rumbled quietly.

_'Darn it... I'm so hungry myself,'_ she looked away, staring at the wall that was to her left. The rice ball suddenly touched her lips and she blinked, before blushing and looking at Hidan.

_'He sure is q-quiet. I hadn't even heard him lift his hand out of t-the water,'_ she hesitantly took a bite out of the rice ball. He offered her a quick smile, before insisting she eat the whole thing by bobbing it up and down in front of her face. She carefully wrapped her hand around his wrist to stop him from moving his hand.

Sakura delicately ate the rice ball, taking her time, _'maybe I can get him to trust me this way...'_

--

The feeling wasn't foreign to Hidan. Butterflies in his stomach, heart pounding in his chest... there might just be something wrong with him. He only had one love and that was -

_'Jashin left you.'_

He blinked, and gave up. There was no use in believing in a god that supposedly gave you immortality and then left you to rot in a who-knows-how-deep hole.

He could only stare at her, lips parted slightly as she ate the rice ball out of his hand like he had with her. The small sights he caught of her tongue proved to be distracting.

Her eyes rested on his fingers, and he wondered for a moment if she would imitate him fully by licking his fingers off. She seemed to take a shuddering breath, before licking his fingers off. Then she sat back on her heels and fidgeted with her skirt, _'damn, she's cute.'_

"Uh, well, those were good. I – I'll be sure to thank Chouji later."

Hidan perked up, _'Chouji?'_ he'd heard that name somewhere before. It dawned on him then that Chouji was one of the students of Asuma – whom he had killed.

_'Why's he being nice?' _a wave of panic swept over him, _'what about that blonde girl? Will she come after me too? Or is it just Shikamaru? I bet it is, he's such a little prick... but what if - '_ he shook his head and dropped his hand back in the water. Sakura perked up.

"Hidan?"

He shook his head, "oh, it's nothing then?" he nodded, "o-okay... if you insist."

He offered her a small smile, _'trying to get me to talk, eh pinky? Keep it up and... it might work, seriously.'_

She smiled back at him cutely, and he twisted around fully so that he could rest his head on his arms, which were now draped over the edge of the tub. She got up after petting him on the head, and walked over to the clipboard hanging out near the cabinet. He eyed it curiously, _'I wonder what she writes on there, seriously.'_

She noticed that he was staring at the clipboard, and he listened as she explained, "I'm... well, I'm just really writing observations on here. Tsunade wants to see how you progress with me so she can weigh the option of getting you to hang out with Mel. You know, the medic that helped put you together."

Hidan allowed himself to make a sound of agreement in the back of his throat. To his pleasant surprise, this made Sakura blush and she immediately scribbled down that he had made another sound besides laughing when she had tickled him.

She walked back over to him and knelt down again, only inches away. Her fingers skimmed across his left forearm, then traveled up his bicep, fingers a little green.

_'Checkin' out my stitches, eh pinky?'_ he shifted slightly. She started scribbling on the clipboard again.

"I think you should get out of there before you turn into a prune... hm, I'll give Rill a call then. Oh, by the way, Rill is the captain of the ANBU squad that dug you up," she wrote something else down, then another word, and circled the first word she had written, "Rill will come by with some clothes for you I guess... some of his hand-me-downs," Hidan reached out suddenly, catching her face in his hand. She jumped a little, then jerked her head up and stared at him, "H-Hidan?"

He stroked her cheekbone with his thumb before glancing at the door and letting his hand drop back down. There was a knock, and Sakura hesitated before getting up to answer the door.

"Oh! Rill! That was... that was fast," she exclaimed. The door opened wider to admit Rill, and he walked in with not only a set of clothes, but a weapon as well. A scythe, to be exact.

"Hey, Sakura. And sheesh, woman, I _am_ an ANBU captain, after all," he set the clothes down on the floor, carefully setting aside the scythe.

_'I want. That scythe. Freaking _now,' Hidan stared at it like it was a long lost love of his, _'damn, I miss my scythe, seriously.'_

Rill scratched the back of his head before reaching up and taking off his mask, rotating it so that it sat on the side of his head. Hidan blinked at him, _'he just – he just freaking took his mask off?! I've _never_ seen an ANBU do that, seriously.'_

Rill grinned sheepishly at him, "well, Ino described your original scythe to us, but we couldn't find it anywhere in the forest where you and your partner encountered Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Kakashi. So we got this for you instead. The metal's tapered, and made of fine silver. I tweaked the staff a bit myself, so it's got a few tricks to it. Uh," Rill turned to Sakura, "you better take that to Tsunade-sama. I think... Hidan's more comfortable with me, if you know what I mean."

Hidan assumed that Rill had just winked at the medic, as she blushed deeply and high-tailed it out of the room. A second later she returned, and stared seriously at Hidan. He just nodded at her, _'I like this guy already. No need to be worried, pinky.'_

Once Sakura was gone and the door closed, Rill turned to Hidan, "alright-y, immortal boy. Now that you're all cleaned up, let's get you dressed, heh? Uh, don't give me that face, you can _totally _dress yourself. I ain't gonna' do it for ya."

_'Thank heaven you aren't!'_

--

Tsunade was reading over Sakura's notes and she sighed, tipping her head back, _'I wonder what Hidan meant by that gesture, touching my face like that... mm...'_

"Sakura."

"Yes, shishou?" Sakura straightened herself, becoming more attentive.

"You made him laugh? And smile? And make 'a sound of agreement'?"

"Yes."

Tsunade released a low whistle, "I'm impressed with this progress, Sakura. So he's a ticklish one is he? That's quite cute."

"I thought so too," Sakura agreed, then added, "who would have thought that a S-class criminal was ticklish?"

Tsunade laughed, "not me, girl, not me."

Sakura smiled, "me either."

"Still, I'm impressed. Either he really trusts you, or it's something else. Anyway, I bet you'll be able to get him talking in, oh, say a week or so. Unless something really bad happens."

Sakura released an exasperated sigh, and Tsunade gazed curiously at her, a frown coming over her features, "what is it, Sakura?"

"Look, I know he laughed, and smiled and made a muffled agreement sound, and yes, it is progress, I just wish he wasn't so – so -"

"Quiet?"

"Tacit. It's like he's just keeping it all locked inside. It's going to get to me, eventually."

"You seem upset about the fact that it will get to you," Tsunade commented, her hands making a bridge under her chin, "what's wrong, Sakura?"

"Well," Sakura fidgeted in her chair, then finally blurted out, "what if I get so mad that I – that I start yelling at him or something? And then maybe he won't want to talk to me or anything and then -"

"Sakura. Stop it. You're over-thinking this," Tsunade instructed firmly. Sakura went silent, still ranting in her mind, _'but what if that does happen? What if I get angry, and yell at him, or hit him, or do something stupid and he... that causes him to... curl up on me? To curl up in himself?'_

She knew that Tsunade could see that she was still brooding the whole situation. Sakura glanced back at the door, _'now would be a great time to come through that door, Rill,'_ she rung her hands, _'now would be _really_ good.'_

The door was knocked on. Sakura breathed an inner sigh of relief as Tsunade called, "come in!"

The door was pushed open and Sakura turned in her chair, mouth open to call out to Rill. However, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes went wide as saucers and Inner Sakura – who had just woken up – promptly fainted.

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Hope you enjoyed the utter cuteness! ^^ i know I enjoyed writing it!


	5. Chapter 5

Even shorter than last chapter, i am sorry! But I'm tired now (and it's 5 am here) so yeah. Plus, VAMP is updating as well, and MLMD (My life, my Dove) will probably update sometime later today, either in the evening or the morning.

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**Chapter 5: That. Wasn't. Supposed. _To happen!_**

Rill pushed Hidan through the door fully, the immortal's cheeks tinged pink.

"Sorry it took so long. I... was having a bit of fun. And I know that probably sounds _really_ weird, but... yeah. We actually got into a little scuffle when I tried to make him put the shirt on," Rill spun Hidan around, "doesn't he look good in our ANBU gear?"

Sakura's mouth moved in silence as she stared at Hidan, her eyes moving all over his body. The vest pulled tightly across his chest, the gloves resting snuggly on his arms. The arm guards showed just how big his hands were, the pants just the right size to rest loosely on his legs. The white bandage tied around his legs, covered by leg plates, looked good on him, even.

She couldn't help staring –_ 'he looks so damn hot' –_ and when she looked at his face her own face turned red. His violet eyes probed into hers. He'd caught her staring. She immediately turned around in her seat, biting on her fingernails.

_'Oops. Oh gosh. He caught me. That so isn't funny.'_

"He ah – he does look good in the ANBU gear. Eh," even Tsunade was blushing. Hidan bolted over to the couch and pulled the blanket over himself, so only his eyes were showing. Rill chased after him, leaping gracefully onto the couch – and onto Hidan.

Sakura and Tsunade both watched in awe as the two playfully rough-housed, and Sakura could see their muscles rippling in their arms and backs.

She could also see how much stronger Hidan was than Rill, and the ANBU captain was pinned in less than two minutes. Hidan was smiling smugly, one hand around Rill's right wrist, his other hand on Rill's head, holding him effectively against the floor.

Tsunade burst into laughter, "all right you two, that's enough! Stop being so childish!"

Rill just grinned, his hair falling over his eyes. Sakura looked between the two, affection – and something akin to pride – swelling in her chest. She gathered up her courage and got up, patting over to the two. She rested a hand on Hidan's shoulder and he jumped a little. She smiled at him, "I'm proud of you, Hidan."

--

Her pink hair rested on her shoulder – and fell over it – her eyes bright and slightly closed, a gorgeous smiled on her face, her words, "I'm proud of you, Hidan," it all made his heart go into overdrive. No one had ever told him that before. No one had ever looked at him the way she was looking at him.

Hidan lifted his hand off of Rill's head and rested it against her cheek, stroking his gloved hand over her cheekbone. Her expression changed to a shy one, a light blush covering her cheeks. He didn't lower his hand, and Rill cautiously said, "Hidan...?"

Tsunade shushed him. Hidan's hand crept over the back of Sakura's head and he pulled lightly, _'she's so gosh darned cute.'_

The door to the Hokage's office opened suddenly and a voice said, "I found this scythe resting outside the... door... oh uh... I'm s-sorry."

Hidan glanced at the girl standing in the door, his hand slowly dropping from Sakura's head, "Ino, it's alright. Come in."

Ino swallowed lightly, glancing once at Sakura before lugging in the scythe.

_'It's too heavy for her,'_ Hidan mused, getting off of Rill and walking slowly over to her. He bent slightly and easily picked up the scythe, hefting it onto his shoulder. She stared up at him, either scared or awed; Hidan couldn't really tell.

"Uh h-hi."

Hidan stared at her for a moment before realized she was waiting for him to reply. He did the only thing he knew how to do right now; he cowered.

--

Sakura watched as Hidan cowered and quickly intervened, "Ino. He uh, he doesn't talk. He's kind of recuperating right now and I'm looking after him."

Ino looked at her, a look of relief crossing over the blonde's face, "oh thank goodness. Well, um," she reached out tentatively toward Hidan, before finally resting her hand on his shoulder, "I'll – I'll stop by with something tomorrow. Hope you t-talk soon," and then Ino was gone, whirring out of the room.

Sakura bit her lip as Hidan stared at the door, before he made his way back over to her. Rill nodded at Tsunade then said to Sakura, "Sakura, if you could take him to your apartment for a while? Oh, and here," he handed her another set of clothing and nodded at Hidan, "he can change out of that if he wants."

Sakura nodded at Rill, turned and bowed to Tsunade, then beckoned to Hidan to follow her. He followed faithfully.

--

"Did you see that simple gesture of affection?"

Rill grinned and leaned against the Hokage's desk, "if you ask me, Tsunade-sama, I'd say he was acting like he was going to kiss her. I mean, his hand did slip over to the back of her head, and he did pull."

Tsunade nodded, but instead of a grave expression she smiled, "he did, but it was cute. I just hope he can fix her heart and she can fix his pride."

Rill tilted his head at her, "fix Sakura's heart? What do you – Oh. Oh never mind. I know. Sasuke right?"

Tsunade slowly nodded her head, "yes, Sasuke. The boy didn't mean to break her heart, but... it still got broken. At least the two are still friends, but I can tell that he feels really bad."

Rill frowned and replaced his mask, "I take my leave now."

"Very well, Rill. Good work getting on friendly terms with Hidan."

"Thank you," and in a poof he was gone.

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Hope you aren't getting overflowed by cuteness. There will most likely be a bit of fluff next chapter as well as - drum roll please - the two events that lead to Hidan speaking!! OMG SO EXPECT A LONGER CHAPTER!!


	6. Chapter 6

WOW QUICK UPDATE FROM ARRE MUCH?!?! Haha. You guys will hate me so much for this chapter. You seriously will. And you'll find out why within... about... a minute, depending on how fast you read. Hee hee. I enjoyed writing this too much. Finished it in four hours (WITH DISTURBANCES. I GOT DISTRACTED A FEW TIMES). I leave you to enjoy this chapter, that I enjoyed. It maxes out at seven and a half pages. See? told you it would be long xD

Song list: "Candy Shop" by 50 cent (censored version), "Dirty" by Christina Aguilera, "Circus" and "Break the Ice" by Britney Spears (fits well don't it xD), "Crush" by David Archuleta, "Gotta be Somebody" by Nickelback, and "Say OK" by Vanessa Hudgens (fits last part quite well xD).  
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Chapter 6: Who would have thought.**

"Here, you can change in the bathroom if you want," Sakura informed Hidan, handing him the clothes and gesturing down the hall. He started walking, a bit stiffly, in the direction she had pointed before loosening up. Sakura ducked into the kitchen to get a drink. When she approached the living room, she nearly dropped her drink.

Hidan was changing.

Right in front of her.

She stared unashamedly at his rippling back, until he glanced over his shoulder and quirked an eyebrow at her. She blushed furiously and dove into the nearest room while shrieking, "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GO INTO THE _BATHROOM_ TO CHANGE!!"

She heard him give a short chuckle before she calmed down enough to leave the bathroom. The shirt he was wearing was a button up – it was probably the only shirt Rill really had to spare. He had a pair of basic black pants on, and nothing on his feet. The ANBU gear lay neatly next to him on the couch where he sat. He stared at her.

She walked until she was right across from him, the wall behind her. He stood and Sakura watched him silently before looking to her right and pulling her hair back behind her ear with her left hand as she set her drink down on the table next to her.

When she looked back toward Hidan she jumped, bouncing lightly off the wall; Hidan was in front of her. He slowly backed her up against the wall, startling her, "H-Hidan?!"

_'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what's he doing, oh gosh, so c-close...'_ his big hands were on her waist, one of his legs between hers. She stared up at him, face flushed, as he stared down at her with a straight face. If she didn't know better she'd say he was mad.

Then his lips moved. She froze, _'could he be -?'_

"S -" came out from between his teeth and Sakura released a short gasp, her hands shooting up to his cheeks.

_'Say it! Say my name, Hidan, come on! I know you can do it!'_ she cheered inwardly, _'come on!'_

Again, he made the 's' sound followed by an 'ah' and she nodded her head, unconsciously tugging him closer. She bent one of her legs and placed her foot on the wall, staring up at him, praying that he would say her name at least.

"Sa -" he rested his right forearm on the wall next to her head, his left hand dropping to her hip. She tapped his chest, bobbing her head up and down a little more, urging him to keep trying.

They drew closer and closer, his body slowly pressing hers against the wall, Sakura taking no notice of this, until finally --

Somebody knocked on the door.

Hidan bolted over to the couch instantly, curling up on it and pretending he was asleep. Sakura closed her eyes in frustration as the knocking continued, _'he was so damn close to talking too! Damn it!'_

She stormed over to the front door to see who was disturbing the mood, and when she opened it her eyes widened.

She snapped her leg out so her foot was firmly against the door, her hand slamming against the frame and she glared at the boy in front of her as she asked lowly, "what do you want, Shikamaru?"

He blinked at her, his eyes wide, "w-well I er... Hidan's here? In your house?"

She nodded slowly, moving her body a little more into the doorway.

"I really just came over to talk to you about the last – the last _mission,_" he told her, raising his hands a bit in surrender. She stiffened, "I don't want to talk about that, Shikamaru."

He stared hard at her, "are you sure, Sakura?"

She frowned, relaxing just a little, _'maybe I over-reacted when I opened the door; he obviously didn't know that Hidan was here. And he cares about me... but...'_

"Yes I'm sure, Shika. Really, I don't want to," she insisted. He leaned against the door frame, too close for her liking. She leaned back slightly.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why's Hidan here?"

She bit her lip, "I'm ah, I'm looking after him. It's my job to get him to talk again," she leaned up and toward him, her nose an inch from his, "and you _better_ not get in the way."

He blinked at her. She jumped back slightly, her hand flying to her mouth as Shikamaru walked down the hall, stretching his arms behind his head.

"See you around, Sakura."

She didn't reply, instead bolting back into her apartment and locking the door, shaking away the light blush on her cheeks. She hurried over to the couch only to find that Hidan had actually fallen asleep.

She vented her anger on the potato she was currently chopping for dinner, _'DAMN IT! He was so close to talking too!'_

--

The next day – after Sakura managed to somehow live through a tense night – Hidan was removed from her apartment and into Mel's. The young medic was excited to have Hidan living with him, and he didn't seem to mind the fact that Hidan wasn't too talkative.

"Just don't take my job of getting him to talk. He's still coming over to my place everyday."

Mel laughed at Sakura, "oh, girl! Don't worry, I won't try to make him talk! Your job; got it."

A few nights later Sakura was dragged to a club by Ino. Sakura sighed; she really didn't want to be here. It had been another unsuccessful day with getting Hidan to talk, but he had smiled a lot more and laughed a few times.

_'Maybe watching the movie was a bad idea...'_ she pressed a hand to her forehead, _'ugh, I wanna' go home. Gee.'_

The music was blaring in her ears, making her heart pump. The bass was so loud. She heard her name being called over the music, "Sakura!"

She looked over and stared. Shikamaru was on the dance floor, arms outstretched towards her, his fingers wiggling. He even had his hair down, "come dance with me!"

At first she started shaking her head but before she could even yell back Ino had yanked her to her feet and whipped her out into the crowd.

"She says yes!" Ino laughed out, before sitting back down next to Naruto. The whiskered blonde pouted at her, and Ino just smirked.

Shikamaru caught Sakura in his arms, "heey."

She rolled her eyes and pushed away from him, blushing a little – he looked good with his hair down - "hey, yourself. What's with this hm?"

She flipped his hair before he placed his hands on her waist and moved her around in a circle, "well, I got tired of having it up in here. Made me get headaches."

She giggled lightly as they continued dancing. He spoke again, "so, how's progress with Hidan?"

Sakura stiffened a bit, "it's... a bit better. He's still not talking though," Shikamaru spun her around and she asked as she faced him again, "why do you want to know?"

"Just curious."

She gave him a suspicious look and he laughed, "Sakura, I'm over it. Really. I gave up. It's not worth it for me to be mad at him forever; and it's troublesome. I don't need something like hate making me drag behind everyone else."

She smiled at him and he jerked her against his body – a slow song had come on - "well, I'm proud of you, I guess. I mean, it must be hard to move on..."

Shikamaru sighed a bit, "yeah... Kurenai... I can tell she's forgiven Hidan but still. She just... it's like she's gotten over it but she hasn't you know?" he said, resting his forehead against hers, his arms wrapping securely around her waist.

She wrapped her arms tentatively around his neck, wondering what the heck was going on, "y-yeah, I think I get it. So why don't you try talking to him?"

Shikamaru paled, "I – I may have kind of forgiven him and everything, but I don't think I'm ready to talk to him yet. I'll let you know when I'm ready."

She smiled at him, "okay."

They continued to sway on the floor until the song ended, and they made their way back over to the table, Shikamaru's arm around her waist.

--

Sakura yawned; she was finally leaving the club. She and Ino parted ways at the alley and Sakura glanced around before turning down it and walking briskly down it. She looked back over her shoulder, _'good, no random guy saw me.'_

Her head came back around to face the direction she was going and she hopped back, a shadow dropping down in front of her. She recognized the silhouette, "Sh -!!"

"I thought you might be going this way," he breathed, cutting her off and pinning her to the wall. His lips came crashing down on hers and she released a muffled squeak against his lips. His tongue prodded at her lips, finally slipping by and getting into her mouth. She fought with him, her arms flying around his neck, one hand tugging at his hair.

When he finally pulled away, he looked furious. Sakura was immediately frightened.

"_Damn it!"_ he snarled, pulling away from her and crouching on the ground, running his hands through his hair. She frowned, her eyebrows pulling back as she took a step toward him, "Shika..."

He was muttering to himself and didn't hear her. She stepped closer so she could hear him, "... stupid, stupid move. What the hell was I thinking? Damn it... Temari..."

Sakura threw her arms around Shikamaru's shoulders, pulling him up into a slightly standing position, "oh, Shika... Shika don't. Stop it."

He shook slightly, "it was stupid of me, Sakura!"

"No, no it wasn't. Stop it. I know how it feels to lose someone like that. I lost Sasuke like that; lost him to someone else. I know it hurts. You especially. You two had been together for so long and then she upped and left you like that..."

Shikamaru turned in her arms, staring up at her from his kneeling position as he grabbed her face between his hands, "Sakura. I just freaking kissed you."

"I know."

"... you're not mad?" he was confused. A look of worry came over his face. Sakura sighed and she rested a hand on one of his, closing her eyes somewhat guiltily, "Shika, I – I've wanted something like that since Sasuke broke up with me. I've wanted to be kissed so badly. And you... you're probably hurting worse than I am. He broke up with me after we'd been together for a year, but Temari... Temari broke up with you after you two had been dating for five years, right? How can I be mad at you?"

He stared up at her in awe, mouth open to protest but then he gave up and instead muttered, "if I protest you'll get mad, won't you?"

He stood; she placed her free hand against his cheek, "yes."

"I'll walk you home."

"Okay."

When they arrived at her door there was a note tacked on her door. Sakura quickly grabbed it, _'Sakura. Something's wrong with Hidan, and I don't know what it is. He has a fever of some kind, and it won't go away. Please do whatever you can. - Mel'_

"Oh no!"

"What? What is it?" Shikamaru demanded, trying to see the note. Sakura thrust it at him as she struggled with the lock on her door. Once she finally got it open and stepped inside – Shikamaru said good night and rushed off with the note – she dashed inside, searching for Hidan.

"Hidan? HIDAN?!"

Strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and she turned quickly, "Hidan! What's wrong?"

He looked up at her wearily, his eyes a bit puffy, his lower lip swollen. She gasped and touched his forehead; it was boiling.

_'Bed. Need to get to the bed. Need to heal him now_,' she walked back and Hidan shuffled along on his knees. He flopped onto the bed when they reached it and she threw back the covers. His body was in a cold sweat, which meant that his body was having temperature swings.

_'It's definitely a cold. But... puffy eyes and swollen lip? This is bad.'_

She propped up the pillow so it would be comfortable for her to lean against, then she clamored onto the bed. She sat against it, her legs outstretched, "Hidan, I really need you to get up here by yourself," she told him hurriedly, grabbing an edge of the blanket. He heaved himself onto the bed, crawling weakly toward her before collapsing against her, his head resting against the swell of her breasts.

She quickly yanked the blankets over him, and healed him until she fell unconscious from lack of chakra.

When Sakura woke up, Hidan had somehow turned around. His full lips were touching her neck, and his breathing was even.

She leaned her head back, "thank Kami... the cold's gone..."

His swollen lip had disappeared, and the puffy eyes were gone as well. He was still sweating a bit, but Sakura checked him over and decided that he was fine.

Tsunade came by to check on him, and Sakura gave her the details. He was detained to Sakura's apartment for three days, and during these three days he slept soundly on Sakura's couch.

--

Two months dragged by, and Sakura couldn't help feeling that something was being plotted against Hidan. More than once she spotted a gang of little kids hanging around her apartment when he was there, and for a time she was very tense, even threatening to chase them off. After a week they stopped showing up.

Sakura had been going out with Genma recently, more for fun than for it to turn serious but suddenly it ended up that way. She and Genma were officially dating.

After a week of dating Genma – and getting into more than one situation with him – Sakura decided to tell Hidan.

"So um, Hidan," she started, sitting down next to him on the couch. He swiveled his head around to look at her and gave her his daily quick smile, before his lips straightened into a line again, "so um, I'm... I'm..." she bit her lip, _'SPIT IT OUT WOMAN!'_

"I'm going out with Genma," she finally blurted out, biting her lip again. There was a very heavy silence, and then Hidan looked absolutely furious. Now, this hadn't been his response when she told him that Shikamaru had kissed her, and he hadn't look nearly as angry when she let out what had happened between her and Sasuke. For some reason unknown to Sakura, her dating Genma made him blow.

His head lowered slowly, his violet eyes glaring at her like she had committed a serious offence.

"H-Hidan? A-are you okay?" she asked fearfully, scooting away from him. He shook his head then got up abruptly and stalked off. Sakura snapped.

"_Talk to me, damn it!_ I can't read your mind! Tell me what's going on. Why the hell are you being like this!? You _never_ reacted this way before! Damn it, Hidan!" she threw a cushion at him, which he barely dodged. She was furious, her face flushed.

He gave her a very, very pained expression, and retreated to the bookshelf, curling up against it. Her expression fell, her eyes growing wide and her mouth dropping open, _'oh... oh Kami what did I just do... no no no Hidan don't do this to me. Don't do this to me!'_

She scrambled off the couch and walked toward him. Her heart ached when she saw him flinch, his arms tightening around his legs and his head pressing harder against his knees.

"No, no, no, Hidan, no. D-don't do that. I didn't mean it, Hidan, _please _don't do this to me," she whispered weakly, her voice breaking. She dropped to all fours, crawling over to him. Once she reached him she sat up on her knees, tugging on his arms, trying to uncurl him. He didn't budge, even when she used chakra to increase her strength.

She took in a shuddering breath, giving up on his arms. She just gave up, and broke down, and spilled it all out to him, "I j-j-just want you to tuh-talk to me-e-e," her breaths were hitched as tears ran down her face in rivers, "you duh-duh-don't know wuh-wuh-what it l-like to t-try and g-g-get someone to t-t-talk and then they n-n-never say eh-eh-anything to yuh-you," she wailed.

She cried all the louder when he enveloped her in his arms and pulled her against his chest, rubbing his hand over her back. She gripped his shoulders, her body shaking from her sobs.

"I'm s-s-s-s-s-sorry," she whimpered, her voice escalating in pitch at the end as she sniffled, "I didn't mean to g-g-get so m-mad at you. P-please t-t-trust me. Don't e-e-e-ever not trust m-me, p-p-please, Hidan..."

He scratched her back lightly, and she focused on the feeling. And then suddenly he was drawing on her back, "I" then an apostrophe...

"I'm sorry," he wrote on her back. He spoke through his writing, and it was enough for her. She wrapped her arms around his head, pressing her face against his neck.

Ten minutes later and she was dry of tears. She sat back on her heels, and rubbed at her eyes, now puffy and red from all the crying she had done. She smiled weakly at him, and he caught her chin in his hand, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

She froze, eyes going wide as her heart thumped wildly in her chest.

She never had a feeling like this come over her when Genma kissed her, or when Sasuke had kissed her. No, she had never felt such a spark in her body from either of their kisses; and that was saying something, because Hidan was only kissing her cheek.

She pulled him to his feet and over to the couch that faced her T.V, "I want to watch a movie..."

He sat her down and walked over to the movie shelf, stopping to look over at her in question.

"Romeo and Juliet," she said, taking a deep breath to finish off her tears. He wordlessly put the movie in and sat back down next to her.

She was half-asleep by the time the movie was half-way down, and she fell against Hidan. He lifted her hair mindlessly, letting it drop back against her face before reaching down and lifting it again. She fell asleep in his lap.

The next day she broke up with Genma.

--

Hidan ran down the street, glancing quickly over his shoulder. It had been a month since Sakura had broken up with Genma, and she continued to refuse every other man who approached, claiming that she was waiting for someone.

It was early in the morning – too early for anyone else to be up – and Hidan dodged a shiruiken that was thrown sluggishly at him. He scowled at the kids above him, leaping out to one side.

He realized too late that he had landed right where they wanted him too, and he fell down, down, and down until he hit the bottom with a sound thud.

He felt like crying, _'why, why me? Why does this always happen to me?'_

He curled up, aware of what was likely to come next when he heard one of the kids call out something. He heard them run off and then looked up at the sound of, _"HIDAN?!?"_

--

Shikamaru perked up when he heard a familiar voice, "all right! We caught him! Woo!"

_'Konohamaru?'_ he briskly made his way toward the voice then started running when the kid said, "right, let's get this over with!"

_'What in the world did he plot?'_ Shikamaru thought, his brows pulling together in the middle. He came to a skidding halt as he passed by a hole.

_'No. No don't tell me...'_

He looked down and shouted, "_HIDAN?!?_"

The immortal looked up and smiled sadly at him, before lowering his head again. Shikamaru's blood boiled, _'oh those stupid kids! I'm so gonna' – UGH!'_

He waited impatiently for the kids to get back, and they came triumphantly, hardly noticing he was there until he bellowed, "what do you think you're _doing?!_"

Konohamaru saw him and grinned widely, "hey! We're getting rid of him for you!"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about? What are you, stupid? Didn't you hear what the Hokage said, 'nobody is allowed to _touch_ Hidan while he's here or they will be severely punished'," he grabbed Konohamaru by the scarf while the other kids dropped their rocks and ran, "do you have _any_ idea what's going to happen to you?!"

Konohamaru stared at Shikamaru in shock, startled by all this. Then he grew scared and Shikamaru jumped when Tsunade bellowed, "what's going on here?!"

Shikamaru's eyes went between Konohamaru and Tsunade, then Rill and his ANBU squad as they pulled the curled up Hidan out of his hole, _'take the fall, or let him get it?'_

Tsunade approached eyes on the little genin, her fury clearly written on her face. The ANBU squad tried to get Hidan uncurled; it wasn't working. Mel came dashing around one corner and Shikamaru straightened, his mind made.

_'Take the fall.'_

--

Mel stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Shikamaru say, "it's my fault. I planned out everything."

_'What? What is he doing?!'_

Konohamaru also gave Shikamaru a stunned look, and he was about to protest when Shikamaru clapped a hand over the boy's mouth. Tsunade's fury had doubled, "they were just doing what I said, that's all."

The Hokage grabbed him by his chunnin vest, "I _warned you_, Shikamaru. I am hereby sentencing you to a month in solitary confinement. Take him away."

She pushed Shikamaru back and turned on her heel as half of Rill's squad surrounded Shikamaru and led him away. Mel managed to ask, "what the hell are you doing?"

Shikamaru smiled at him, "taking the fall, Mel. Taking the fall."

Mel watched in disbelief as the group trooped off, Shikamaru standing tall.

--

Sakura jumped two feet into the air when her door suddenly banged open.

"Sakura!" she heard Rill call out, and she quickly bolted to the hallway. He and another ANBU were carrying Hidan, all curled up in a ball.

_'NO! NOT AGAIN!'_

"Put him on the couch. Yeah like that, just lean him there. Thanks, Rill."

He nodded at her then hurried off, Sakura turning on her heel and dashing over to Hidan. How was she going to fix this? She had no idea what had happened, didn't know why he was curled up...

_'The I'll do it this way, and pray to Kami it works.'_

She got on the couch and gently rested a hand on his arm, "Hidan?"

She kissed his arm once, then kissed all along his arm, tugging gently, calling his name softly, "Hidan. Hidan."

Slowly his arms came loose and she planted a kiss on one of his knees. Something in her clicked, and she started kissing him feverishly, her lips brushing over any skin she could touch; shoulders, hands, arms, knees, forehead. While she did this she spoke, "Hidan? My name is Sakura Haruno, and I'll be looking after you. I like to read books, beat up Naruto, cook, heal people and dance. I'm a medic at the hospital. I'm from Konoha," she pressed her lips to his cheek as he stretched out his legs; she was in between them now.

"I like to eat ice cream, and I hate broccoli. I love mystery and crime books but love romantic movies. I like to drink tea while watching movies. I'm the apprentice of the Hokage, Tsunade. It's my mission to get you to talk," there she said it. She told him exactly why she was looking after him.

He stretched out even more, his hands gripping her biceps tightly. He raised his head and she started kissing his neck, "so far I've found out that you're ticklish, that you have the cutest laugh and that you're strong."

She kissed along his jaw, moving up to his right cheek, going around his face. She kissed his eyes, forehead, other cheek, the tip of his nose and along his hairline.

Sakura kissed him behind the ear, then kissed down his neck again.

She stopped abruptly, her breath catching in her throat, as a deep voice next to her ear finally whispered, "Sakura..."

* * *

And to be honest with you guys? "They drew closer and closer, his body slowly pressing hers against the wall, Sakura taking no notice of this, until finally -- Somebody knocked on the door." THAT WAS MY FAVORITE PART. I thought of it and I was like "OMG THEY WILL SO HATE ME IF I DID THAT" so I did it. Yes. Yes I love you too 3


	7. Chapter 7

Only five pages, this one. I think it's quite cute. Also, I kind of wove in how I see Kakuzu and Hidan's relationship. Because I read a comment by a HidaKaku fan (YES HIDAKAKU) in which they said, "... Hidan always needs Kakuzu to protect him... blah blah blah" and I stared at it for a minute then said, "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!!" yeah. Hidan DOES NOT need Kakuzu's protection. If he did, I don't think he would have been able to fight Kakashi so easily on his own -_- okay, now that I'm done my rant.. ENJOY THE FLUFF. (and the Hidan Shikamaru friendship bondage xD)

* * *

**Chapter 7: Precisely.**

Sakura rested her head against his shoulder, wondering whether she should dance for joy or cry. He had finally spoken, even if it was only a single word. She almost sighed.

"... Sakura?"

"Yes?" she was hoping he would speak more.

"Shikamaru he -"

"So it _was _his fault, wasn't it?" Sakura growled, her eyes full of fury. She moved to get off of Hidan but he tightened his grip on her biceps.

"No... the kids. It was the kids. He deliberately claimed it was all his fault that they went and tried to bury me again."

She blinked at him, and was about to argue when he swiftly pressed a finger to her lips, "ask Mel."

She frowned and stared at him; his violet eyes looked sad, "look, it's not that I don't trust you -"

"You have every right not to fuckin' trust me."

Sakura looked away.

"... old habits die hard, seriously," he muttered, and she knew he was talking about his apparent swearing habit. He became very quiet then, and Sakura looked down at him, _'that must have been his way of apologizing without saying sorry,'_ she smiled, _'how cute.'_

He glanced at her, then demanded, "w-what're you smiling at?"

_'Aw, look at that, he's blushing!'_ she started giggling, and the light blush on his cheeks darkened, "what? What, _seriously_?"

She poked his cheek, "you're _blushing_, pretty boy," she informed him, giggling more and hopping off him. He sat up slightly, glaring at her, a slight pout on his face as he repeated, "pretty boy?"

Sakura deliberately swayed her hips back and forth as she walked away from him, "yes. Pretty boy."

He appeared in front of her, a hand gently placed on her face, "... pinky."

She smiled affectionately, raising her hand and placing it against his cheek, "yes. Pinky. Pinky and Pretty boy."

Hidan closed his eyes and leaned his head against her hand. She stroked her thumb over his cheek bone, and slowly one of his large hands came up to cover hers, holding it to his face. She took a quick step forward; he didn't move.

Sakura placed a quick peck on his cheek, making his eyes fly open, a blush coming to his cheeks again. She gently pulled her hand out from under him, and watched as he brought up a hand to cover his cheek. She smiled happily as she opened the door after the second knock.

--

The first thing Hidan noticed was that his face was very hot. Which meant he was blushing.

_'Damn. According to her, I've been blushing. A lot. Today. Seriously. What's wrong with me?'_ he composed himself and turned around to see that Sakura was talking to Tsunade. He swallowed when Tsunade's hazel eyes rested on him, and then she stared expectantly. Sakura bounded back over to his side.

_'Uh... uh, well... I dunno...'_

"Oh come on. If you can talk to me you can talk to her. At least say hi," Sakura whispered in his ear. He took a breath.

"Hii..." and then he brought a hand to the back of his neck and looked down. He glanced up at Tsunade to see that she had this odd, motherly look on her face, "I do believe that is the cutest hello I have ever received. Well, I'll leave you two then. Come talk to me whenever you like, Hidan, I'll be in the Hokage tower."

"H-hai," he muttered, and Tsunade smiled as she closed the door. Sakura suddenly whooped and Hidan stared at her, _'what the heck is up with her!?'_

"Oh! I'm so happy! You're talking!" she danced around and Hidan just stared at her. Then she turned, her face composed and serious, "Hidan. Do you mind telling me what sickness it was you had that one day Mel had to bring you here? It was so strange. I really need to know if it will happen again."

Hidan bit her lip, _'should I tell her or should I not? She's not a Jashinist, Jashin wouldn't -'_ but again, that angry sounding voice, a ghost of who he was before all this growled, _'Jashin left you.'_

"My immortality comes at a price," he blurted out, then retreated into the kitchen. Sakura followed him, and he stared up at her from his sitting position on the floor. She mimicked him, "but you're still immortal."

"I know... it's because... I can have it and then I have it forever – it can't be taken away – but... I'll get sick. A lot. With something that _can_ kill me," he laughed sadly, "I remember that before I got blown up I always wanted to die, seriously."

Sakura frowned, "I don't want you to die..." he heard her mutter. His eyes widened and she must have realized what she said, because she quickly spoke again, "but there's something you can do about it right?"

Hidan thought, "I – I think so... but I... I can't remember."

Suddenly she stood and pulled him to his feet.

_'Why does she look so worried?'_

"Hidan. Tell me where you're from."

"Yugakure."

"What type of weapon do you use?"

"A scythe."

"What _did _you use?"

"A triple-bladed scythe and pikes," he replied, giving her a look, _'what the hell is she getting at?'_

"Who was your partner in the Akatsuki?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, _'oh.'_

"I don't – I don't know. I can't remember."

Her eyes widened unnaturally and she took his hand, leading him out of the kitchen while muttering, "this isn't good..."

She turned, "last question: do you know who Asuma Sarutobi is?"

"It rings a bell," he closed his eyes and felt her hands on either side of his face as she whispered, "please tell me you remember."

"I'm thinking... OH! Isn't that why... isn't that why Shikamaru hated me? Didn't I – Didn't I – I killed him, right?"

She breathed a sigh of relief then bit her lip. He smiled crookedly and held up a finger, "one more question?"

"Yes. One more. Do you remember the Akatsuki?"

"... no."

"Oh good... then it's only the Akatsuki you forget..."

"I _did _recognize – what was his name? Oh yeah, Chouji – I recognized him and your blonde friend – was it Ino?" Sakura nodded, "yeah, and of course how could I freakin' forget Shikamaru?"

She smiled happily while picking up the phone. She dialed a few numbers, then said, "hey, Rill? It's Sakura. Look, I know you're probably busy but I have to be at the hospital in like, ten minutes. Yeah, yeah. Oh thanks," she blushed a little, "anyway, I need you to tell Tsunade-sama that Hidan's kind of lost his memory of the Akatsuki. It doesn't look like it's a problem, no, I think that with the right information – or even pictures – we can get it back," she glanced at Hidan before adding, "though I don't know if he wants to remember. I'd tell her myself but she won't be there today. Could you do that for me? Thanks," she giggled and blushed again, "good-bye."

Sakura put the receiver back down and stood, stretching, "well, I hope you can survive without me for three hours. I need to go to work until my shift ends. Oh, I'll actually probably be five hours today; surgery you know?"

Hidan nodded, then quickly said, "yeah, okay. I'll live. You don't mind if I... if I leave though, do you?"

She gave him a suspicious look, "no I don't mind," she looked thoughtful, and as she struggled into her nurse uniform while throwing off her other clothes she searched around for something.

_'Spare key maybe?'_

She held up a shiny silver key and Hidan nodded to himself, _'yep, spare key.'_

She gave it to him as she passed by, adjusting the nurse hat on her head, "I don't mind if you are back here in four hours. Yes, four hours. I want you here before I get back."

She stared up at him and tapped him on the nose, "and put a shirt on. You're distracting."

Then she darted out the door, giggling madly. Hidan could have sworn her face was bright red.

--

_'Aw, hell. I shouldn't be here. Mel'll get in trouble if they find out he told me where this place was,'_ Hidan smirked a little though as he quietly sat down in front of the jail cell, _'though, I slipped by the ANBU easy. I'll only stay for an hour or so. I wanna' sleep, damn.'_

He stared at the sleeping boy across from him, inside the cell. This is what they called solitary confinement. It didn't look like much fun.

Shikamaru twitched before sitting up, and he squinted at Hidan before his eyes widened and he gasped, "you-!"

"Yo."

Shikamaru looked around, then shuffled over to the front of his jail cell, "how'd you get in here?"

"Snuck by. Come on, kid, give me credit. I may have just started... _talking_ again, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten I'm a shinobi."

Shikamaru released a nervous laugh, "heh, yeah. But if you – if they find you here... I'm not supposed to see anybody. At all. You'll get in trouble."

Hidan cocked an eyebrow at him, "you worried about me, little shadow punk?"

Shikamaru couldn't resist smirking, "this means war."

"Aw yeah? Bring it, kid. I'll be more careful this time around."

"What about your partner? Don't you need him?" there was a bit of a mocking tone in that statement, implying that Hidan was weak. Hidan growled a little, a smile on his face, "I don't even remember him. But I do remember that _he_ was the one who needed _me."_

Shikamaru blinked at him, "you don't remember Kakuzu?"

_'Kakuzu...? Kaku – OH KAKUZU!' _the memories of the cold-hearted miser came back like a hard blow.

"Hey, thanks for saying that. I remember him now."

Shikamaru blinked again, then smiled, "well, your welcome, I guess. But he needed you? What do you mean?"

"I never needed... _Kakuzu_ to protect me. For goodness sake I'm a freaking S and M immortal. Why the heck would _I _be the one who needs protecting, seriously?"

"... that's a good point. Continue," Shikamaru instructed, leaning against the jail bars. Hidan shuffled closer, leaning against them too, "well, look. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be able to use half his techniques. He wouldn't even be able to... I dunno. Remember our combos? 'Cause I actually don't really remember."

Shikamaru released a quiet laugh, "yeah I remember those. And you're right, I guess. He needed you to make his attacks that much more deadly, 'cause he couldn't kill you."

"Yep."

Shikamaru glanced at him, _'now what?'_

"But did he need you for anything else? You worried about him a lot."

Hidan thought for a moment, "I did worry over him a lot, didn't I? Well, I guess I kind of thought of him as a friend. Don't friends worry over friends?"

"Yeah, that's true. Kinda' like Naruto with Sasuke. Naruto is always worrying over Sasuke; Sakura too. Well, she did, anyway..."

"She told me. Okay, ranted about it is more like it, seriously," Hidan chuckled, "I worried over him mostly 'cause he was mortal, and well, you know I was a bit of a dense idiot."

"If you want to put it that way... sure thing."

"Heh. Maybe I was afraid of losing him because he always knew what to do. And I wasn't quite used to not following orders. I know I'd bitch about them like crazy, but... I still followed them. I never got used to not being told what to do... until you separated us."

"I did you a favor didn't I?"

Hidan stood, "you did me two favors, actually. Separating me from Kakuzu and showing me that yeah, I can think for myself. Second thing you did for me... was blowing me up."

Shikamaru jumped up and whirled, staring at him, "that was... a favor?"

"Showed me how stupid my religion was. Yeah, that's coming from a supposed religious zealot, seriously. I better go though; I'll be back tomorrow though, depending on when Sakura's shifts are. We'll chat more then."

Shikamaru smiled, "thanks for keeping me company. I'm actually interested in your relationship with Kakuzu. I wanna' know what it's like to be in an organization like that."

"Maybe talking about it will make me forget. Maybe I'll even ditch my old village permanently. What do you say?" Hidan held out his hand, "friends?"

Shikamaru took it, "damn right. Friends."

Hidan let a real smile come to his lips, "sweet. See ya tomorrow, Shika."

There was a silence as Hidan walked away and then, "you're not stupid, Hidan."

* * *

YEAH YOU READ IT RIGHT. HIDAN AND SHIKA ARE OFFICIALLY FRIENDS. Yeah. Maybe some better fluffs next chapter. Like... HidaSaku fluff. Fluffiness is fun. FLUFF. It is also fun to say xD. So now that you know how I see Hidan and Kakuzu's friendship, know that i utterly despise that pairing. I despise it more than I despise Sasuke. Now THAT'S saying something o_O


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry this is a little bit late(ish). I hope you enjoy this chapter. It holds a lot of my personal views on Kakuzu too (for this story anyway... ha ha). But yeah, there is implied KisaHida** friendship** here. Yes. Friendship.

Enjoy :)

* * *

**Chapter 8: Operation Friendship.**

By the time Sakura arrived home, Hidan was already asleep on her couch. She stared at him, smiling, her hands on her hips as she watched him sleep. Sakura walked over to him, catching her falling hair in her head as she leaned down, her lips brushing over his cheek.

_'He looks so peaceful when he's asleep...'_

She stretched and inspected the clock, reading the green neon letters. She yawned, _'it's only six. I better get supper ready. He might be waking up soon anyway.'_

She walked into the kitchen and gathered up a few ingredients – '_he won't mind ramen will he?'_ - and she set the items in her arms on the counter. Ten minutes later the noodles were ready, and she started adding the soup. It sloshed onto the counter and she cursed silently. The meal was just about ready to have the meat added when a chin rested on her shoulder and two large hands rested snuggly on her hips. She jumped and gasped, "Hidan!"

"What'cha cookin'?" he asked sleepily, his head resting against hers. Sakura swallowed to clear her throat, her face burning, "ramen. I hope you don't mind."

"Since when did a man flippin' _mind_ what a woman made for him? I'll eat anything you make, seriously. Unless it's boiled broccoli. I hate boiled broccoli."

She wrinkled her nose, "I don't like that either."

Hidan removed himself from her presence and rummaged around in the cupboards. She had no idea what he was doing, but let him have his fun. Once the food was done she picked up the pot, aiming to take it to the table. Hidan snatched it out of her hands, carrying it swiftly over to the table and placing it down.

She froze when she saw that he'd set the table already. For three people. She stared at him as he sat down and he stared at her, completely unfazed.

"How'd you know where everything was?"

"You honestly think I sit around all day and do nothing? Gee, Sakura, you don't give me much credit. I'm recovering, and yes, I only really talk to you, but that doesn't mean I can't look around and find things on my own, seriously."

She made a mental note of the lack of curse words as she sat down, "then how'd you know someone else was coming?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her then muttered, somewhat enviously, "I'm not deaf."

_'O-oh. S-so he heard some of my conversation with R-Rill. Great. Just great.'_

Once Rill arrived they began eating, Sakura and Rill making light conversation, Hidan merely staring off into space. He talked to Rill of course, but his answers were flippant and cut, and he shied away from many. Especially questions about his religion and his past... love life.

"Rill," Sakura suddenly said. The ANBU captain looked at her, confused, "I don't think – I don't think he wants to talk about his... his past. Really. I know you're just trying to find out more about him but..."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" he whipped his head to Hidan, smiling a little, "I used to be on the interrogation team. Old habits die hard I guess... sorry about that."

"Eh... It's okay," Hidan replied, stabbing a piece of meat with his fork and glaring at it. Sakura giggled nervously, _'no, it's obviously not fine Hidan. It's not fine,'_ she so badly wanted to say.

--

"What time is she coming home today?"

Hidan gave Shikamaru a look as he settled himself against the steel bars of the cell, Shikamaru settling next to him, but on the other side, "she gets back at about three-thirty. You seem to freaking enjoy my company, seriously."

"Solitary confinement sucks. You should know that better than me," Shikamaru's expression turned to one of regret, "you spent eight years in a hole, you know. All alone. In the dark."

Hidan looked away, "don't remind me, seriously."

"Yeah. Sorry. So tell me more about you and Kakuzu," there was a slight pause, "_wow_ that came out sounding so wrong. No that's not what I meant."

Hidan laughed quietly and waved a hand in dismissal, "I know what you meant, kid. You mean for me to tell you more about our shitty partnership."

"Yeah. So what made it so... shitty."

"_He_ is what made it that way. I was young, youthful, a little bit on the immature side and I liked to do things my own way. I followed orders but I followed them my way," Shikamaru nodded and Hidan continued, "everything that he needed to do honestly needed to be done first. _If_ we hadn't gone after that... that monk guy what was his name..."

"Chiriku."

"Yeah, Chiriku. If we hadn't gone after him for Kakuzu's precious money we probably wouldn't have even been in freaking fire country. So technically speaking, it was Kakuzu's fault your sensei got killed, literally it was my fault, and then we can throw in some bad luck for fun. Seriously."

Hidan smiled when Shikamaru grinned at his attempt to make him laugh, "you're a laugh. Nice way of putting it though. It makes sense," Shikamaru shifted, his expression thoughtful, "but there's something about him you really resent. And it's not the fact that he was a money-lover. What is it?"

Hidan's expression darkened, and for a second he contemplated changing the subject.

"... he could get really touchy-feely. _Really_ touchy-feely."

Shikamaru's eyes widened, "w-what?"

"Figure it out, kid," Hidan muttered, drawing in the dirt with his finger.

"Do you mean... to tell me that... uh, that he... _liked_ you?"

Hidan nodded curtly then spat, "_look at me_, kid. Even _Kisame_ admitted he was slightly attracted to me. Konan definitely was but she was loyal to Pein, and I'm freaking grateful for that. But it's not like he felt that way about me all the time. It was only when we were alone that he got like that," Hidan took a breath, _'shit, I can't believe I'm telling him this...'_

"I tolerated him for the first few times, but I was always tense," he laughed darkly, "he'd get _mad_ that I was so tense. And then I'd start yelling at him that he had no fuckin' right to be touching me the way he was without my consent and he glared at me, so I took a swing at his head. That was the first time. Second time I just... got up and walked away. And climbed a tree, and curled up on the branch until he decided to use my scythe to cut the tree down. I hid in the spiky bushes and he got irritated. When it was time for us to leave I crawled out, all scratched up and he looked at me funny.

"Third time I was in a really freaking bad mood. He sat down next to me and set a hand on my shoulder all inconspicuous like, but I felt those fucking threads and shot my hand into his sleeve to grab one of those masks on his back. I threatened to break it and he backed off," Hidan leaned his head back and sighed, "I never liked it when guys touched my chest. Seriously."

"... so when did he finally give up?" Shikamaru asked quietly after a minute. Hidan smiled lightly, _'so he's being cautious about it. I just want to forget it all. Damn it.'_

"We were at the base, and I was tired of it all. Kisame... man, I miss that guy like crazy. He was the guy I was closest to in that hellhole of an organization. The thing I didn't realize was that Kakuzu was... scared of him."

Hidan felt Shikamaru jostle at this news, "wha-!? Kakuzu? _Scared?_"

"Yeah. It started like this," Hidan turned and licked his lips, "we were at the base, and everyone was there except Deidara and Sasori. Oh, this happened while they were getting Gaara," a quick glance at the shadow user and Hidan continued, "anyway, I was just leaning against the wall next to the door to my room, staring at nothing. Then I feel this raging chakra, and damn, it scared the hell out of me. I turned my head and Kakuzu came raging around the corner, looking around and then he glared at me. And was half-way down the hall as soon as I blinked. I'll admit it, I was damn scared. So I took-off down the hall.

"I glanced behind me once – and shit, Kakuzu moved fast for a tall guy – and when I looked back in the direction I was going Kisame was suddenly there and I crashed into him. He only swaggered," Hidan's brows furrowed, "damn, that shark-nin had freakin' good balance. I cowered behind him and he and Kakuzu got into this argument. I hadn't noticed at the time that Kakuzu had stopped as soon as Kisame was there. Anyway, Kisame is seriously this tidal wave of pure fury, no shit man," Hidan insisted as Shikamaru released a short laugh. Shikamaru waved a hand, signaling for Hidan to continue.

"He was _so_ freakin' mad, and it occurs to me then that he'd known what was going on the whole time and it pissed him off. And don't ask me why, 'cause I seriously don't know. He treated me like his little brother though, whenever he and I were around in the same base. Kakuzu tried to go around him I think, and Kisame just charged him. Just like that. Kisame probably would have killed Kakuzu, and I am _seriously_ not joking, Shika. He was... he was so damn mad. I never knew he cared that much about me.

"But seriously! Kakuzu's left arm was totally ravaged, jagged flesh and all. And that was from Kisame's _teeth_, not Samehada. He didn't have Samehada or the summoning scroll for the weapon on him. Don't get me wrong though, Kakuzu's threads had done loads of damage to Kisame too, but that man, damn, he didn't even looked like he felt a thing. His eyes would've probably been red too, if they could change color. I had to pull Kisame off Kakuzu though, 'cause I knew that Pein wouldn't be too fucking impressed if they killed each other. Kakuzu would twitch away from me after that, seriously. That's why he got so cold toward me, and I didn't mind. At all."

Shikamaru looked awestruck when Hidan looked at him, his brown eyes wide.

"That... wow that's crazy. Kisame treated you like his brother?"

"Yeah," Hidan shrugged, "I found it funny that one time I nearly fainted from blood loss – and that fight _sucked_ – but Kakuzu didn't bother to do anything about it. So I was lying on the forest floor, in the middle of winter, freezing cold and no one else there. I thought I was going to die, seriously. So I did faint, and when I woke up I was warm, and comfortable and on a couch. My head was on Konan's lap and Kisame sat across from the couch reading a book. I knew he'd gone out to get me 'cause he snarled at Kakuzu when he walked out. I thinks that's when Kisame figured there was something totally fucked up about me and Kakuzu 'partnership', if you can even call it that."

Shikamaru looked like his head was swirling from all this information, "have you told any of this to Sakura?"

Hidan blushed, "no..."

"Hah! You're blushing!" Shikamaru snorted, then muttered, "I guess you should go though. I feel like it's almost three. You should tell her," Hidan started to get up but Shikamaru grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. Hidan looked down, "but after you pulled Kisame off Kakuzu... you aren't telling me something. Kakuzu doesn't seem like the type of guy to just, back off after fighting with Kisame, even if he was scared of that guy."

Hidan was silent, _'should I tell him? Aw, damn, but that's me being vulnerable! Oh whatever. It's in the past. I'm done with it.'_

"I broke down, Shika. Yeah, I started crying."

* * *

AND THE MIGHTY HIDAN CRIES, THUS MAKING KAKUZU BACK OFF COMPLETELY!


	9. Chapter 9

Well... I had fun with this chapter. A huge part of it is from Hidan's pov too o_O Omg. Yeah uh... so Kakuzu (seeing as I've made him kind of the 'bad guy') had his threads slither around over Hidan's chest or he would push Hidan against a wall or something, hand on chest. Thus, Hidan doesn't like it when guys touch his chest 0.0 Don't ask. It just.. makes sense. Yes. That's to explain the Mel-trying-to-heal-Hidan part. AND I'M REALLY SORRY I TRIED SO DARN HARD NOT TO MAKE SASUKE A JERK AND... AND... AND IT JUST HAPPENED! I FEEL REALLY BAD NOW!! *goes off to cry at her epic failure*. Nare. Just wait till I update HSD. Sasuke is a total sweetie in HSD i PROMISE.

* * *

Chapter 9: Side effects of misery.

"Tell Sakura... why in the world would I tell... tell _Sakura!_"

Sakura's hand stopped inches from her doorknob, and not because she could hear Hidan mumbling from inside. She could smell something cooking.

_'He... he's cooking? Why is he cooking? I always cook!'_ she couldn't help but doubt his abilities in the kitchen. She was, after all, surrounded by shinobi who didn't know the difference between a fork and a pair of chopsticks. She fumbled with her key, silently cursing herself for telling Hidan to keep the door locked – just in case.

Sakura inserted the key, struggled with it some more - _'I really need to replace this lock..'_ - and finally burst into the hall. Kicking her shoes off, she jumped three steps before coming to a stop in front of the kitchen door. She just stared.

His back was to her, a big wooden spoon in one hand, the handle of a pan in the other. He was spinning the spoon listlessly, like it was an everyday thing for him to do. He tossed his head to look over his shoulder, hair in slight disarray, and gave her a wide smile, "hey, Sakura! Welcome home!"

Warning bells rang. First, Hidan said 'hey Sakura' instead of 'hey Pinky' like he usually did. Secondly, welcome _home?_

_'Since when did he say welcome home?' _she wondered, staring at him in awe. He was wearing an apron too, and he cocked a pristine eyebrow at her before turning back to whatever he was making. Sakura breathed in deeply, _'it smells... really good.'_

"I'm going back to Mel's, so I decided to... cook for you," he sounded embarrassed, "... you're back pretty late."

At this Sakura ducked her head, pink hair creating a curtain around her face, her voice full of guilt as she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Hidan. I – I – it was..." she bit her lip before burying her face in her hands, shoulders shaking.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her against his chest, _'every time I do something stupid I just feel him trust me less and less!' _she gripped the sleeves of his shirt, _'I don't want to lose this! Not with something as stupid as... as... as Sasuke!'_

She breathed his smell in deeply, calming her nerves. She wiped her eyes and smiled up at him, "I'm sorry. I'll tell you later, okay? I'll let you finish whatever you're doing. It smells really good."

He smiled back and returned to the stove.

Sakura walked uneasily over to the couch, sitting heavily on it and drawing her legs to her chest. She couldn't believe she'd let it happen. So much for her plans to ignore every man that came her way.

Sasuke had showed up at the hospital earlier, bearing a bouquet of flowers. He had gotten down on his knees and apologized like crazy to Sakura for breaking her heart, asking her if she'd give him a second chance. Sakura, not wanting to embarrass her friend, said she'd give him a second chance. And then she'd let him kiss her – in front of a mass of people.

_'Why couldn't I have been smart and just told him to let me think about it?'_ she snarled angrily at herself, gripping her hair tightly in her hands.

_'**Maybe you aren't over him yet.'**_

_'Oh great. Just when I thought I'd gotten rid of you.'_

_**'Hah! You will **_**never****_ get rid of me!'_** Inner Sakura pumped a fist in the air, _**'I'm a part of you!'**_

_'In a situation like this, you have no idea how much I wish that wasn't true.'_

Oddly enough, Inner Sakura went quiet. Sakura sighed and finally looked up to see that Hidan was standing at the far end of the table, a hand on his hip, the other gripping the top of the chair so tightly his knuckles were white.

She shook her head and stood, walking over to the table. He'd made fish in some kind of sauce, that assaulted her nostrils, delivering a delicious smell. She was afraid that if she didn't eat it soon, she'd start salivating.

"... are you okay?"

She jerked her head up to look at him, contemplated lying, _**'yes, lie. Lying about that is a good thing. He'll just get upset like last time.'**_

_'No...'_ she looked away as she muttered, "no. No, I'm not okay. I hope you don't mind, but I want to eat first," she gave him a lop-sided smile, "I'm starved."

Her smile faltered when Hidan didn't return it, his violet eyes twitching slightly as he sat down. She did the same, and after glancing at him, she attacked the fish.

This startled a burst of laughter from him as she snarfed it back, choking a little.

"Aw, damn! I didn't know you were _that_ hungry, seriously."

"Well, I am," she managed to say through mouthfuls.

"Careful, there might be some bones. I'm not... that professional at de-boning fish, seriously. So try not to swallow any."

She gave him a look and gestured toward her nurse uniform. He scoffed, "just 'cause you're a medic doesn't mean you can heal everything."

Sakura watched in confusion as he took some of the fish himself, a dark expression coming across his features. She recalled what she had heard at the door, about not telling her something.

Once she'd gulped down the rest of her milk and he held his glass idly between his fingers, she decided to ask, "Hidan... I um... I heard you through the door. What is it you're debating about telling me?"

He froze, his eyes staring at the plate in front of him, wide open, and the glass almost falling out of his hand. He regained control though, and set the glass down, finally bringing his eyes up to look at her. She started standing, "Hidan?"

"You first."

This made her stop in her movements, her brows furrowing, _'what's he hiding?'_

"Well... I... I made a mistake today," she sat back down heavily, staring at her plate, a few fish bones to one side.

"And...?" he prompted, giving her a worried look. She breathed deeply, "and it's going to cause problems. Sasuke came to the hospital today, and asked for a second chance. There were so many people around, and I didn't want to embarrass him, so I said 'yeah I'll give you a second chance' and then -"

"Sakura..."

"- he got all happy and smiled this huge smile then he stood -"

"Sakura."

"- I don't know why I let it happen but I just – _AH!_" she screeched when he slammed a fist on the table, "_Sakura!"_

Breathing heavily she stared at him, "w-what?"

"... you're ranting."

"No I – oh wait. Yes. Yes I am. Sorry," she felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. She waited until he relaxed before she cut straight to the point, "he kissed me. In front of more than half the hospital staff, plus several patients were taking a walk around. And then everyone started cheering and I forced a smile and that... that made it worse. He offered to walk me home but I refused..."

As she talked she failed to notice that Hidan was staring at the door with murderous intent. Finally, after speaking nonsense for a minute more, Sakura noticed that he was very tense, and that he had masked his chakra. She froze.

_'Shikamaru? No, he's not out yet, still has two weeks left. Then who -?!'_ a knock sounded on the door, confident and loud. Before Sakura could stop him Hidan was on his feet and at the door, yanking it open. He didn't say a word, but by the look of absolute shock on Sasuke's face she could only guess that Hidan had a furious expression dominating his features.

"Sakura, who -"

"Sasuke! This is Hidan," she pressed a hand firmly to the immortal's chest, relieved that he backed off a little, "I'm looking after him, that's all."

"... Hidan? He was a member of the Akatsuki."

Her face clouded and she snapped, "so were you."

He glared at her, onyx eyes dark, "well, I changed didn't I?"

"So did he," she tossed her head in Hidan's direction before growling, "and here I thought you were less of jerk. Why are you here?"

He gave her a look, as if it was obvious, "I wanted to take you to a movie."

She faltered, "I – I can't. Not tonight."

"Why not?"

"Sasuke, it's my job to look after Hidan okay? He's with me almost everyday, and I don't have spare time on my hands right now! This is – Hidan is – it's a mission okay? I'm his caretaker. I can't just leave him here alone all the time. Mel is usually busy, and on missions. I have to toggle my job and looking after him!"

"He's a shinobi; he can take care of himself," Sasuke insisted, reaching for her. She jerked back, bumping into Hidan's chest, "you don't understand! The only time I can leave him here alone is when I have to work! Otherwise I have to be here with him! You don't know what he's been through!"

Sasuke's eyes bled red, "... what?"

"Sasuke... temper..."

"What do you mean, temper?" he demanded, stepping toward her. She felt one of Hidan's arms coil around her waist and Sasuke noticed, stopping short, eyes staring at the pale arm. He jerked his head up, "and you're _letting _him do that? Even when we were dating you hated it when I did that!"

"_Sasuke you have your damned sharingan out, you're scaring me and he's just trying to protect me! What the hell is your problem?!"_ she screeched, lashing out at him. Hidan grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand back against his shoulder, whispering in her ear, "temper, pinky. Temper."

Sasuke blinked and took two steps back, "sorry. I'm sorry. I have no right to react like that."

_'You're bloody eyes don't say you're sorry,' _she wanted to scream, to yell at him. A door down the hall opened, then closed. She had hoped that someone would come out, but no one wanted to deal with the Uchiha.

Sakura suddenly felt large waves of chakra coming from behind her, and realized that it was Hidan, letting his chakra roll. He was trying to scare Sasuke away.

Sasuke, however, took this as a challenge and he crossed his arms, eyes threatening to go sharingan again, "what, trying to scare me away?"

Sakura quickly found herself behind Hidan, whose fist had just connected with Sasuke's face. She gasped and reached out, "Hidan!" but her fingers barely skimmed the immortal's elbow. He stood over Sasuke and reached down, lifting him up by his collar.

"You don't have a right to go into a freaking hospital and ask for forgiveness, much less kiss a girl in front of loads of people, you worthless shit. It's as clear as glass to me that you knew she wouldn't be able to say no in front of a helluva lot of people, so get the fuck out of here punk!"

He dropped Sasuke and the Uchiha took off, his plot revealed, "yeah, that's right, run like a little girl, you pansy!"

Sakura gaped at Hidan, whose violet eyes were blazing dangerously, her mind numb. He turned to look at her, his hand shooting to the back of his head, smiling sheepishly, "eh he he. Sorry, I scared your -"

"You _talked_ to him!" she exclaimed in joy, "you talked to someone else besides me and Mel! Oh, Hidan!"

She threw her arms around his neck, a gasp of shock escaping from his lips as he collapsed onto his bottom, his arms braced against the floor. His neck and face suddenly grew very warm against her own cheeks.

_'I know what he said to Sasuke was mean and all, and that makes me a little mad, but the joy I feel totally overpowers my anger,'_ she pressed her lips to his jaw, smiling crazily, _'that makes me really happy.'_

She dragged the blushing Hidan back into her apartment. While they cleaned off the table and washed the dishes, they elapsed into silence, listening to the crickets they could hear outside the building – Sakura had opened one of her windows a little.

Finally, by the time it was nine, Sakura felt that she deserved to know what Hidan had been debating on telling her. She sat down on the couch and he sat next to her.

"So... it's your turn. Tell me."

He paled a little more, before opening his mouth to speak. His eyes flicked to the door and he closed his mouth, muttering, "Mel's here."

She inwardly sighed in frustration, _'dang it! Maybe I should ask if I can have him for an hour more...'_ she contemplated, going to open the door.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Hey, Mel. Uh, do you think I can keep him for an hour or more? Please?" she asked, giving him her best puppy-dog look. He laughed.

"Sakura, Sakura! You know that you have an early operation tomorrow! You should go to sleep!" he patted her head as Hidan padded over, hefting a bag onto his shoulder, "we don't need you being tired for that."

"Why am I in such high demand?"

"You'll hate me if I say it."

Her eyebrows narrowed as the meaning sunk in, _'because I'm Tsunade's apprentice huh? Great. Great. Just great.'_

She sighed and turned around to hug Hidan, who wrapped his free arm around her shuolders, "good night then. I'll see you at... five tomorrow. Or maybe five twenty," she giggled at his expression, "hey, I don't want to be late again. I'll get it across to Sasuke that until you start talking to Tsunade I can't see him."

"Then I'll be sure to never talk to her, seriously," Hidan stated firmly, staring into her eyes. She blushed a deep scarlet, coughing lightly before stepping out of his way. She watched as he and Mel walked off down the hall together, Mel asking questions in a quiet voice, and Hidan replying just as quietly.

As soon as they were gone from sight she darted into her apartment, closing and locking the door before sliding down it, wrapping her arms around her knees. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest.

_'I... I don't know if I want to understand the meaning beneath his words...'_

--

"So you told me and Shika. Are you going to tell Sakura?"

Hidan sighed, _'again with the am I going-to-tell-Sakura',_ he opened his mouth, "you know, Shikamaru asked me the same freaking question."

Mel laughed, getting out of his chair. Hidan sat up on the couch, running both hands through his hair, before glancing out the window. It was about seen in the morning, _'Sakura's operation will be starting in an hour...'_

When Mel came back with a glass of water he spoke, "yeah, I'll tell her. Some day."

Mel frowned, "some day? Hidan, it's not like it's something you should hide from her. But I mean, if you really don't want to... that's up to you, I guess."

Hidan thought for a moment, falling back onto the couch, hands locking behind his head, "... I'll tell her."

He could have sworn that Mel just smirked, "when?"

"... tomorrow. Time willing, seriously."

Mel smiled again, and was about to say something when his alarm went off. He stuck out his lower lip, making Hidan chuckle.

"Dang. Guess my shift starts in ten minutes. Oh, and so does Sakura's big operation. Man that ANBU they brought in... that was terrible... gee sometimes I wish..." Mel's voice trailed off as he walked down the hall and into the bathroom, no doubt to get ready to go to the hospital. Hidan relaxed and closed his eyes.

His body suddenly jerked violently, and he sat up quickly.

_'Oh no. No no no no...'_ the fever was back in a rage. Hidan started shaking, his vision getting blurry, his teeth chattering. His body broke into a light sweat and fear gripped at him; the fever was coming on much more quickly this time around. He struggled to stay sitting up, and ended up falling to the floor with a thump.

His thoughts were all jumbled, the pain his body experiencing intense. It was nothing like he was used to. Nothing at all. The other pain he could take: the pain of being used, the rituals, abused trust...

He'd trusted Kakuzu after all, and nothing good came out of it.

This pain was far worse. It was like his heart was being crushed, then released, and crushed again. The affliction spread to his lungs, then his stomach. He gagged, clapping a hand to his mouth. His eyes shut tightly against the taste of stomach acid on his tongue.

He collapsed on the floor, reaching for nothing. Hoping that Mel would come back. He heard the bathroom door open, but the footsteps were going in the opposite direction.

_'No... M-Mel c-come back... Mel...'_

"Bye, Hidan!" he heard Mel call. His heart thumped sporadically in his ears.

"Mel..." he wheezed, "Mel..."

He heard the doorknob turn. Hidan felt tears pricking at his eyes.

"... Hidan...?" if Hidan could have he would have cried for joy. Instead he whimpered and brisk footsteps were heard.

"Hidan? _Hidan?!_" Mel appeared around the corner and jumped back, "HOLY --! HIDAN!"

Mel hurried over, his medical side taking over. He turned Hidan so that the immortal was on his back. Hidan calmed down, albeit not by much. Slim fingers touched his chest. Hidan went pale. He struggled, flipping onto his side and heard Mel exclaim, "_shit!_ Shoot! Crap! Shat!"

Hidan felt Mel's strong medic hands wrap around his arm and pull him back. Again Hidan struggled, causing immense amounts of pain to rocket through his body. Tears leaked out of his eyes.

"Hidan. Hidan, look at me. _Look at me_. I need you to trust me. I really need you _to trust me!_" Mel yelled. Hidan's eyes stayed glued shut.

"I won't touch you I swear but you have to let me do something! I'm not him Hidan and I never will be! I'm a medic and I'm trying to help you! Let me help you!"

This calmed Hidan almost immediately, and true to his word Mel kept his hand a centimeter away from Hidan's chest. The pain slowly subsided, and Mel was counting under his breath, "forty-nine... fifty... fifty-one..."

Eight seconds later Mel jumped to his feet and leapt for his phone, snagging it in both hands and dialing a numbed while falling over.

"Sakura! I know it's a bad time! No! This is more important than that operation, Sakura! I'll take your place, just please, _please_ come over _now. _The fever, Sakura. The fever came back. I can't touch him," there was a pause as Mel held the reciever away from his ear.

_'Sakura... must be... screaming...'_ Hidan coiled in pain, whimpering.

"Sakura please! Screw the damn operation! This fever could _kill_ him, Sakura! It could kill him! He needs you!"

Hidan's eyes shot open at this, _'I... I need... I need Sakura?'_

Mel hung up and paced, Hidan writhing once in a while in pain. Mel knelt next to him, "I wish I could help you get over it. Oh, Hidan. I hope he didn't do anything terrible to you... to recover from something like – no. No I won't say it. If that had happened you wouldn't be here right now."

There was an urgent knock at the door and Mel yelled, "it's open!"

Sakura's pink hair appeared in Hidan's line of sight and he gasped out, "Sah-Sakura..."

Her green orbs went wide, "Hidan! Oh... oh gawds Mel this is _terrible_..."

She tried to lift Hidan, to get him over to the bed. She gave up, "Mel, I need you to help me. While I set up the bed I need you to pick him up."

Mel nodded and slowly brought Hidan to his feet. Hidan watched Sakura as she propped up the pillow, whipped back the blankets and positioned herself on the bed. He hobbled over with Mel's help and curled up against her, his lips touching her neck.

She pressed her legs against him a bit, then instructed Mel, "blanket. Pull it over him. Yeah, just like that," Mel tucked them in.

"I'll let the hospital know that something more important came up. I'll also inform Tsunade," Mel stated, making for the hall.

"Mel. Why couldn't you heal him, though? You're an excellent healer surely -"

"Sakura," Mel's voice was stern and Hidan closed his eyes, loving the feel of Sakura's chakra through his body. He focused on that feeling instead of the pain; a feeling like a powerful but gentle breeze.

"He'll tell you when he's ready. I am in no position to inform you."

With that, Mel left his apartment, the lock turning. Sakura slowly moved her hand down Hidan's chest, to rest it on his stomach.

He raised a shaky hand, idly fingering a strand of her hair, _'yes. I need Sakura.'

* * *

_Startling revelation #1!! (no, it's not a spoiler, 'cause it should be obvious by now): HIDAN REALIZES HE NEEDS SAKURA. took you long enough, lil pretty boy. Meh, he's too cute. I like the way I've structured Mel (and Rill). there is a possibility they will appear in other stories for the heck of it xP. Well, I hope you likey this chapter. Maybe some... romances next chapter hmm? Whaddya think? xD


	10. Chapter 10

Enjoy teh chapter! It's a little... rushed like, but oh well. Parties to come, more romancing and a bit of a ShikaSakuHida triangle going on. Wow. But it's more like the two are sharing her lol. Enjoy :)

* * *

**Chapter 10: Zenith.**

Sakura attempted to blink, but her eyes refused to even crack open.

_'How long was I healing Hidan for? The fever was hard to combat... it was so much... so much more potent this time around... we really need to find the cure for it.'_

She weakly raised a hand and stroked Hidan's soft head. She could feel his breath flitting over the skin just about her sternum. It made her shiver.

_'I've never been in such an intimate pose with a guy before, even some of my past boyfriends,' _she blushed lightly, finally opening her eyes.

And noticing that she and Hidan were surrounded by Rill's ANBU squad, an angry looking Sasuke, a nervous Mel and a curious Tsunade. Shizune was standing off to the side, a suggestive look on her face. Sakura swallowed.

"Um... hi?"

Tsunade smiled, "hi, Sakura. Don't take this in the wrong way. We've only been here for five minutes."

It was then that Sakura noticed the grip Tsunade had on Sasuke's sleeve. The ANBU squad was probably to decrease the chance that Sasuke was going to tear Hidan off of Sakura. She forced a smile.

"Oh, well," Sakura checked Hidan's temperature. Everything was normal, "he's alright now. Thanks for calling me over, Mel."

Mel grinned, "no problem. 'Cept cockatiel here wasn't too pleased."

Sasuke glared at him, furious. Sakura swallowed lightly, _'this is going to be a long day...'_

--

Three hours later saw Hidan and Tsunade in deep conversation about how they could get his fevers to stop coming. He had mentioned that getting his immortality removed would stop the fevers, but Tsunade said that was a no-go. She wanted him to stay immortal.

Sakura only sat around for the explanation Hidan gave of his symptoms before Sakura gave her report on the healing.

"It was definitely more difficult to heal off than last time. It took... all of my chakra. I think I woke up once at eight pm and noticed that he was still in pain. I had to use the last drops of my chakra that I'd regained to heal him completely."

Tsunade had nodded at this, then dismissed her. She headed back to her apartment, a bit gloomily, and stopped at the grocery store to buy a few things.

_'Gee, now that he's talking to Tsunade though... I'll – wait. Why's my door open?'_ she had just experimentally turned the knob, and the door had opened. Eyes widening she pushed it, and saw a silhouette near the end of the hall.

A mixture of emotions battled for control over her: anger, distrust, joy, wonder, confusion, and euphoria. She took a step in, kicked the door shut and dropped the bag on the floor, charging down the short hall and tackling the man to the ground, straddling his chest.

She knew who it was because there was only one guy who knew where her spare key was. Sakura wrapped her hands semi-tightly around his neck, making him raise a hand and close it loosely around her wrist. Her green eyes blazed.

"I don't know whether I should _kill_ you..." she leaned down to whisper, "or kiss you."

"I would much rather if you did the latter," he muttered in a strained voice, "if you killed me it would be rather troublesome."

She released her hold on his neck and kissed his cheek, deliberately giving him time to turn his head. Shikamaru overpowered her easily, flipping her onto her back and pulling away.

"What about Hidan, Sakura?" she looked away, her chest clenching, "why do you suddenly want this from me?"

"I don't know! I just want to be loved again!"

He pulled her to her feet and she wrapped her arms around him, sobbing against his shoulder. He stroked her head in a brotherly matter.

"I think it's my turn to tell you to stop it. I can tell that he trusts you. That he _likes_ you. He cares about you, Sakura. I'd go as far as to say he worries about you."

She jabbed him weakly in the shoulder, sniffling, "how would you know? It's not like you two are friends."

"... actually, Sakura, we are. But you can't say anything. It would be troublesome."

"What do you mean?" she demanded. He sighed and sat her down on the couch.

"He came to talk to me while I was in solitary confinement. It's not like he'd get in big trouble if anyone found out he came to see me – really, I don't even know how he got past the ANBU – but the guy who told him where I was will get screwed over. Big time."

"Who? Who told him?"

"Think about it, Sakura. There have really only been two people looking after him."

She gasped, quietly exclaiming, "_Mel?!_"

"Yeah. Him," Shikamaru sat down next to her, and she leaned against him, "how is Hidan, by the way?"

"His fever came back ten times more strongly than before. Right now he and Tsunade-sama are trying to figure out how we can put a stop to the fever forever."

"What's it caused by? He never told me."

"His immortality comes at a price, though once he has it, it can never be taken away. The fever, however, can kill him. I'm just lucky that I can heal it," she shifted so she could look at Shikamaru's face, illuminated by the sun light coming through the window, "do you know something about him that I don't?"

"Yes," Shikamaru admitted, flicking at imaginary bugs on his knee. She grabbed his hand, "will you tell me?"

He gave her a look that crossed between amusement and anger, "it would be better if you heard it from him. And I don't want to lose his trust."

Her eyes narrowed, "you aren't -"

"I thought I already told you that I gave up. It's been eight damn years. I should have let Asuma go a long time ago! Kurenai's happy enough as it is, with her daughter. That kid's a monster, though."

Sakura laughed, remembering the little girl, "she's in the academy now, right?"

"Yeah, she is. Feisty little thing. She's got her mom's habit of illusions."

"That's good..." Sakura got up and went to the kitchen while venturing to ask, "would you... would you stay?"

"Only if you want me to."

"I want you to."

"Then I'll stay."

--

Hidan had been in the village for almost a year now, and Sasuke wouldn't relent about getting Sakura back. She was running out of excuses, having used Ino and Tenten and Temari in too much already. Shikamaru and Temari never did get back together, but they made amends, and Temari had apologized tearfully about leaving him like that. He had forgiven her.

Sakura sighed, leaning back in her chair, _'I need to focus on work. And stop thinking about Hidan.'_

_**'Ooh, you like him.'**_

_'When did -?! WHEN DID YOU GET BACK!?'_

_**'I thought I told you that you couldn't get rid of me.'**_

_'...'_

Sakura ignored the rest of what Inner Sakura was ranting about, and pushed the inverted being to the farthest corner of her mind. She sighed again, getting up. There was no way she could focus on her work.

_'I just wish I still had Hidan to use as an excuse to get Sasuke to leave me alone. Gosh, that makes me sound so selfish...'_

She locked her office up and glanced at the big clock down the hall: seven thirty pm. Her shift was ending in five minutes.

"No harm in leaving early," she muttered, turning around. She had walked not even a step before bumping into someone.

"There _is _harm in leaving early, actually."

She jumped back, fury flickering across her face, "Sasuke. I already told you. I'm booked all week. I've got a dinner date with Shikamaru and Hidan tomorrow, a movie date with Mel, and a shopping date with Ino, Hinata and Tenten. I don't have time."

He stared at her, no doubt wondering when she had planned all this.

_'Obviously in advance. I need back ups,'_ she refused to let herself smirk at his somewhat distraught expression before she remembered something else, "oh, and Naruto asked me if I wanted to go on a picnic with him and Hinata on Sunday. They want me to bring someone else _and_," she quickly said right as he opened his mouth, "I was planning on asking Shikamaru. Or Sai."

Sasuke glared at her, his expression clearly saying "why not me"?

"You had me once and you gave me up. I'm not going back to you," she stated flatly, continuing down the hall. She hopped a little past him, just to make it that much harder for him to catch her. She clutched her bag tightly, listening as he followed her, _'if he tries anything I swear I'll -'_

Her phone started ringing and she quickly answered it.

"_Sakura!"_

Her face brightened and she stopped walking, "Lee! Hi! How are you?"

"_I'm well. I'm calling to ask if you're free on Monday."_

She glanced at Sasuke, "yes, I'm free on Monday. Well, not until around four. My shift ends at four on Monday. What for?"

"_We were going to throw a surprise party for Neji!"_

"OH! Oh right! It's almost his birthday! Yeah I'll come!"

"_Excellent! We will look forward to your youthfulness!" _there was a muffled cloth sound, "Lee! Lee, wait!"

"_Yes?"_

"Sasuke's here. Want me to ask him?"

"_Oh yes! Please ask him!"_

She held the phone a little away from her mouth, "Neji's surprise party. Want to come?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "yeah sure."

Sakura smiled back but kept it guarded as she replied, "yep, he'll come."

"_Perfect! That means I just need to ask our old teachers! Oh, and bring anyone else that you want. Good night, Sakura."_

"Good night, Lee," then she snapped her phone shut and continued down the hall, turning sharply at the corner and heading straight for the door. Sasuke appeared in front of her and blocked her path.

"Sasuke. Move. I'm tired, I want to go home, and I want to sleep."

"That's it? That's your excuse?" he stepped closer, "I can help you sleep."

She attempted to move around him, "no. You can't. I don't need your help."

He blocked her again, "you said you'd give me a second chance."

"You took advantage of the fact that there were a ton of people present, and knew I didn't want to embarrass you!"

"I didn't take advantage of that!"

She knew he was lying by the sound of his voice, "yes you did! Now let me leave!" she attempted to go around him again, but he stayed stubbornly in his path. She couldn't take it. She threatened to punch him with her chakra powered fist and he slammed himself against the wall. She ran straight for the door.

"You'll regret this, Sakura! You'll regret turning me down! I'll make your life a living hell!"

She ran all the way to her apartment, ignoring the stares from others. Sasuke's words reverberated through her head, and tears stung at her eyes.

She flew into her apartment, past someone who she didn't expect to be there and right to the couch. She curled up on it, crying her heart out.

A strong hand was suddenly on her arm, caressing it. Lips pressed to her head, to her knees and then her hairline. She slowly uncurled.

"Sakura? My name is Hidan, and I'll be looking after you. I like to train, watch T.V, play games with kids, read books on forbidden techniques and meditate. I'm a recently recovered immortal. I'm from Yugakure," he spoke softly, pressing his lips to her cheek and then her nose and neck as she stretched up, crying a little more loudly as he did to her what she had done to him months ago, when he first spoke to her.

"I like to eat spare ribs, and I hate spinach. I love horror and macabre books but love romantic movies. I like to drink pop while watching movies. I'm the Immortal of Konoha, and feared. It's my mission to get you to uncurl, and trust me."

Sakura started crying more and he smiled down at her, bracing his arms on either side of the couch's arm. Her hands held his shoulders, her bent legs tightening at his sides.

"So far I've discovered that you're easily hurt, you're sensitive and really moody, seriously."

It was happening before she knew it, his body lowered onto her body, his lips moving gently against hers. A few more tears slid down her cheeks, butterflies going crazy in her stomach while she kissed him back, her thoughts all muddled.

He pulled back and kissed away her tears while she released the last of her whimpers and sniffles, before he just let his head rest against her shoulder.

"Tell me... tell me what you were going to tell me... when... when you got the fever again."

He kissed her neck before pushing off the couch and pulling up. He sat down next to her and she snuggled against his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and took a deep breath.

"So, it starts like this..."

She listened, awed and disturbed, as he told her everything that had happened to him in the Akatsuki. She listened as he told her about his brotherly relationship with Kisame, the mother-son relationship with Konan, and the silly-and-destructive friendship with Deidara and Tobi.

Then she was appalled to hear about Kakuzu, and what the older man had tended to do to Hidan, and it disgusted her beyond belief that something like that had happened to someone like Hidan. It made more sense now why Mel couldn't touch Hidan's chest.

Hidan apparently had a mutual relationship with Itachi, Sasori and Zetsu, while his relationship with the leader seemed to borderline more on like-hate rather than mutual.

Once he was done he leaned his head back, looking somewhat relieved. She decided to ask him one last question, "did Kakuzu... did he ever... I mean..."

"No. No he didn't go that far. It was just all touchy-feely, and I hated it. He left this area alone," he gestured toward his pelvis, making her blush, "but otherwise he touched my legs, stomach, chest, face... you get the idea, seriously."

He glared at the wall and Sakura got up on her knees next to him. She'd been lying to herself the entire time, convinced she loved someone who wasn't Hidan but she was wrong. He'd been through so much. She'd been through a lot, but not as much as him. Maybe they could heal each other.

She wrapped her arms around his head, "yes, I get the idea. You can just forget about it now."

He laughed a little, poking her stomach. She flinched and giggled, "no, Hidan."

He grinned up at her and tickled her stomach, "yes, Sakura."

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-no!! H-he he he he H-Hidan!! S-s-s-s-s-stop i-i-it!!" she laughed out, squirming. She then remembered that he was ticklish himself, and so the war began.

Eventually they fell to the floor, a gasping heap. She had landed on top of him and thus exclaimed, "I _win."_

He pouted at her, "fine. You win, seriously."

She giggled and got off of him, heading straight to her bed. Now she was tired. Go figure.

She crawled into the bed, yawning, and watching as he lay down on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Her bed suddenly felt very empty.

"Hidan?"

"Yes?"

"Come sleep with me."

His head snapped to her, eyes wide, "w-what?"

"Come. I want you to lie next to me."

"W-why?" he demanded, face turning red. So Shikamaru had been right.

"With you here, my bed feels empty. I think I got too used to having to heal you from your fever."

He stared at her a moment longer, "Sakura, I don't think -"

She pounded her fists against the bed, "I _want_ you to sleep next to me!"

Hidan blinked at her, then got up and padded over, "shove, pinky."

Sakura shuffled over and he lay down, yanking the blankets over both of them, "happy?"

"No. Closer."

He inched closer, face turning red again. She shook her head, a smirk playing upon her lips, "closer."

In response Hidan tugged her toward his body, hugging he to his chest, "are you happy now? Seriously," he whispered quietly in her ear. She smiled and kissed his collarbone, snuggling against him, "only if this is more than what I'm hoping for."

"If you're hoping for a relationship with me, Sakura, I'd be more than happy to oblige, seriously."

* * *

Yes, Hidan and Sakura are in a relationship now. Because I'm cool like that. Yep. Short author notes. Me not in thinking mood.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11. Complete version. Hope you like it =)

Youtube is great, by the way.

Songs: "Get Buck in here" by a variety of artists that I'm too lazy to type out and "Tear It Up" by Omarion ft. Chris Brown

**

* * *

Chapter 11: Hapless.**

When Sakura woke up the next morning, Hidan was not lying next to her. She pouted, yawned and stretched as she got out of bed. There was a note on the table, and she snatched it up quickly, brushing her long pink hair out of her face.

She blinked, noting that Hidan's handwriting was a lot neater than many had originally assumed. He wrote that he was with Tsunade, and that he would see her at dinner that night with Shikamaru. Just the thought of seeing both of her favorite men in one night made her blush – of course, neither of them could compare to Naruto, if she was going to be honest with herself. Sakura giggled.

Work was a drag, and she fidgeted in her chair until her shift ended at five-thirty. As soon as the second hand touched the six she was flying out of her door, whizzing the key into the lock and turning it sharply, before rocketing down the hall. She only got a quick glimpse of Sasuke's shocked face as he emerged from a different office.

_'He probably had to get his eyes checked again. Not that that matters to me anymore. I have a dinner date to look forward to!'_

She reached her apartment in record timing, glancing at the clock as she kicked off her shoes: five-forty. Her supposed quick shower lasted for twenty minutes, much to her dismay. She was barely going to have any time to get make-up on, so she just patted on some light blue eye-shadow while whisking a sparkly lip-gloss over her lips, shoving the tube into her purse upon exiting the bathroom.

Sakura deliberated for a minute over which outfit she should wear, deciding to wear her cherry red outfit over her summer blue dress – she would save that dress for the picnic. Silver earrings dangled from her ears, a silver necklace barely reaching past her collarbones; she was ready.

She snatched her white purse off the table and paced around. Her eyes were constantly drawn to the clock, as she anxiously waited for the neon green lights to read six-twenty. Shikamaru had told her not to leave her apartment until six-twenty.

_'Aw, screw this! It's six-twenty-four. I am _so_ out of my door!'_ she screeched to herself, hopping down the hallway as she tugged her white leather jacket off of a hanger. By the time she had locked the door and hurried down the hall is was already six-twenty-six. The restaurant she was to meet them at was only an eight minute walk from her home, so she forced herself to calm down.

_'Wow.. this is... a really expensive place...'_ she awed at the building. It was one of the kinds of restaurants that most of the population of Konoha didn't dare look at – and Sakura was no exception. She swallowed lightly before walking up to the receptionist that seated people. The woman scrutinized her as Sakura explained, "I – I'm – is there a reservation for Nara?"

The woman glanced down at her book before replying meticulously, "a reservation for Mr. Nara, table for three. I assume you are the third party?"

"Y-yes."

"Very well. Follow this young gentleman to your table – the two men are already here," as Sakura walked stiffly by the woman whispered, "and a lucky one you are. They're attractive to boot."

Sakura blushed unwillingly at the comment. The waiter led her to some stairs, and took her to one of the private rooms. Sakura froze before quickly moving forward as he knocked and – having received a muttered 'come in' – he pushed open the door.

Sakura walked in, her head down. It was only when the door closed that she raised her eyes and nearly fainted. Inner Sakura, of course, stood no chance against how stunning Hidan and Shikamaru look, and thus fell into oblivion while a dark blush came to Sakura's cheeks.

Shikamaru's hair was down, a strand dangling over his forehead. He wore the fishnet shirt he often wore, underneath a light gray jacket. He wore jeans, making Sakura feel a little bit too dressy. He gazed at her lazily, and eyebrow raised. Her green eyes slowly shifted to Hidan.

Hidan's hair was slicked back as usual, violet eyes bright. His shirt was a pale blue that faded to navy and was unbuttoned at the top. He had a silver necklace on, and black slacks. She didn't know whether to walk toward Hidan or Shikamaru and seeing her indecisiveness the shadow user commented, "you do know that you're sitting between us right?"

"To keep us from ripping each others throats out, seriously," and at Hidan's comment both men laughed. Sakura relaxed, seeing his comment was a joke. She walked forward, toward Hidan and crawled over him before he could get up to let her in. Once she had settled in her seat she looked at him smugly. He looked away, his cheeks tinged a very light pink. She giggled at him and he thrust a menu toward her.

"Here, pinky. Choose your meal, seriously."

He picked up another menu and scanned through it, Shikamaru doing the same. Sakura giggled one last time before finally opening hers.

--

When Sakura had walked in Hidan had hardly been able to contain himself. Her cherry red dress accented her curves a little too much, made her hair stand out and...

Seriously brought out her green eyes.

Then after walking in she just _had_ to crawl over him, tempting him beyond belief to just grab her and kiss the living daylights out of her. She would pay later. At _his_ apartment. He smirked.

Nothing in the menu really caught his eye, though he thought the Caesar salad looked pretty good. Apparently it had fried chicken on it.

_'Sounds really good now... hm...'_ he glanced up from looking through to menu to see that Shikamaru was staring at him. He gave the younger man a 'what' look. Shikamaru glanced at Sakura, raising an eyebrow at the immortal.

Hidan kicked him under the table, unfortunately making Shikamaru burst into startled laughter at such a childish act. Sakura lowered her menu and looked at him confusedly, "what?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's not something you should trouble yourself over," Shikamaru insisted, stretching, "well, I'm going to go to the men's room. Be back in a few; I'll grab a waiter too."

Shikamaru stood and walked out, winking at Hidan. Hidan silently cursed him, _'he's out to get me that little brat! Seriously!'_

Sakura seemed very aware of Hidan now. She wouldn't stop staring at him stare at the menu. After five more seconds he gave up and turned to her, "what?"

She stared hard at him in response, cheeks reddening as she leaned forward and asked, "what do you think?"

"What do I..." it took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. He resisted blushing and glanced around instead, like they weren't the only ones in the room – _'Tsunade _could_ have a spy in here, seriously' –_ and then scooted towards her, "about _this_?"

He set his hand on her shoulder and let it drag down from her shoulder to her thigh. She really should have slapped him or punched him for doing that. Instead Sakura just blushed and nodded her head, looking away.

"Next time you decide to wear something so fuckin' ravishing, _don't_ crawl over me, seriously," he refused to elaborate. She fisted her hands in his shirt and yanked him toward her. Hidan quickly stuck out a hand to keep from collapsing on her. A flick of irritation went through her eyes like she was hoping he wouldn't do anything.

_'Well, I have her fuckin' boxed in,' _he muttered to himself while staring lustily at her. By the way she tilted her head to one side she had no idea what his expression meant.

He heard the sound of footsteps slowly approaching the room; two sets. He placed a chaste kiss on the corner of her lips and unlatched her hands, smoothing out his shirt and acting bored just as Shikamaru opened the door. Sakura quickly straightened herself out but kicked Hidan. He glared at her, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow, settling down in his seat, "so here's our waiter. Shall we order?"

The pinkette and immortal nodded.

"Right. Sakura. You first."

She blushed lightly, "uh, I'll have the Club Sandwich."

The waiter nodded, scribbling with his pen. Hidan nodded at Shikamaru who spoke next, "I'll get The Usual."

"Will that be with the fries or the onion rings?"

"Onion rings."

He nodded again, turning to Hidan, "and you, sir?"

"Caesar Salad."

"Chicken or beef?"

"Chicken please."

The waiter smiled, pen still on his pad, "and drinks for you three."

"Mint Margarita."

"... Strawberry smoothie," Sakura said after a moment of deliberation. A thought popped up in Hidan's mind and he smirked while saying, "a shot of vodka."

All three stared in shock at him and he managed to keep his smirk for a total of two seconds. Then he burst out laughing waving his hand at the waiter and gasping out, "j-just k-k-kidding ha ha. Coke for me. Oh that was funny, seriously."

The waiter laughed lightly and exited the room. Sakura kicked Hidan again, this time a little more forcefully. He jumped.

"It was _not_!"

"Gee, girl, I'm more likely to drink cyanide than vodka."

At this Sakura paled and he really wished he hadn't said that.

_'Think fast, idiot,'_ he growled at himself. He quickly asked, "so how was your day?"

She brightened, "well, I couldn't concentrate on work very well."

"Oh? Why's that?" Shikamaru asked, piping in. She blushed lightly, "uh, I was um... uh..."

Hidan smirked cheekily, "thinking about us?"

She kicked him again, "I'll take that as a yes, seriously."

"Don't make me hurt you," Sakura fumed, glaring at him. He pretended to be terrified, "oh no! Oh, Shikamaru _save_ me from the wrath of Sakura that will be worse than burning in hell!"

Her face reddened further and she lunged across the cushions at him. Hidan was quick though. He scrambled out of the booth, grinning madly. Shikamaru just laughed, "I think you're pretty capable of taking care of yourself!"

Sakura chased Hidan around for a while. He would grin back at her, showing just how much of a difference there was between their shinobi training. Though, he did almost trip over a cushion, laughing.

_'Figure. I just so happen to be a damn klutz, seriously,'_ he let Sakura tackle him to the ground.

"There. You won. Happy?"

She nodded, staring down at him for a few more minutes. Hidan tilted his head to one side, wondering what that look was for. She got off of him and took her seat. He followed suit, staring hard at her, unaware that Shikamaru was watching the scene with interest.

_'... does she think I didn't mean what I said? Fudge, that's not a good thing... I did mean it...'_ the three lapsed into silence, listening to the soft music playing in the room. Two minutes later, the waiter returned with their food.

--

Shikamaru parted ways with Hidan and Sakura. Sakura couldn't help staring up at Hidan who was watching Shikamaru walk away. He had a very lovely profile she decided.

_**'Extremely lovely profile.'**_

_'Go away. Get back in your corner. I don't need your help.'_

_**'... you don't think he meant what he said, don't you?'**_

Sakura blatantly ignored Inner Sakura. Instead she grabbed Hidan's hand and tugged him away, releasing his hand after he walked next to her.

"How's your... your pride coming back?"

He looked away, "I hardly talk to anyone, seriously. I honestly only talk to you and Shikamaru -"

He went oddly silent as Ino came running over. She was grinning happily and said to him, "oh hey Hidan! I was wondering when you were going to get out and about! I mean, I've seen you in Tsunade-shishou's office a lot, but never anywhere else. Oh, and I heard that you and Shikamaru are friends now, and that Chouji's getting used to you. That's great progress!"

Sakura tucked away the fact that Hidan was letting Ino doing all the talking. He would merely smile and nod at her, and every once in a while make a sound of agreement in the back of his throat.

"Hey, Ino. We're still on for Saturday, right?"

"Yeah. OH! Sakura, Mel says he's really sorry but he has to cancel the movie, uh, 'date'," she did quotations in the air at the mention of date, glancing cautiously at Hidan. He had tensed ever so slightly, much to Sakura's surprise.

She frowned, "really? Why? Why didn't he tell me?"

Ino frowned too, "because he had to go with an ANBU squad three this morning. He was so relieved when he saw me at the hospital. By the way, I _hate_ late shifts. So much."

Sakura nodded her head in agreement, "I hate them too."

"Anyway, he begged me to tell you that he can't make it because this mission came up," she glanced around than said, "I think it's really dangerous Sakura. I don't know any other reason why they would need a medic to go with them."

"... Akatsuki," Hidan suddenly said, staring up at nothing. Ino and Sakura jumped at the sound of his voice. Sakura scowled, "Hidan, the Akatsuki is gone, we killed them a -"

Hidan shook his head, pointed and said again, "Akatsuki."

Sakura followed his finger. Indeed, there was a man crouching on a building. Something swayed at his side. Sakura grew very, very still.

Ino paled, then gasped out, "it's him. Oh, Kami it's _him_. How could he possibly – there's no way that – his chakra lines were -"

Hidan was gone in a flash Sakura screaming, "_Hidan!!_"

And a second lated Kakuzu fled past them, Hidan chasing him, fury in his eyes. Sakura and Ino chased after Hidan, who had whipped out his weapon scroll – _'now why did he have that on him?' _- and was brandishing his scythe.

_'Oh, I wish I knew what was going through his head right now. Kami, help!'_

Hidan's weapon came smashing down and he flipped over it, yanking it out of the ground and whipping a part of Kakuzu's cloak off of it in the process. Sakura and Ino had to stop to catch their breath. They watched as Hidan chased Kakuzu right out of the village. He had skidded to a halt at the gate, pounding the butt of his scythe into the ground in an angry gesture. Kakuzu's green eyes were bright in the dark. Hidan threatened to throw the weapon at him and he fled.

Hidan appeared at Sakura's side; Ino had collapsed from fear. Several civilians also looked terrified.

"Ooh, he's back. But he was dead he -"

"That wasn't him, seriously."

Ino looked up at Hidan, who crouched next to her, "what?"

"That wasn't Kakuzu. But he was from the Akatsuki, seriously. You may have killed Pein but did you kill the guy controlling him?"

Sakura bowed her head, clenching her fists in her lap, "... no. We couldn't find him. Do you know where he is?"

"Konan must have saved him, then," he scowled at the sky, returning his weapon to the scroll, "she's an idiot to chase after him."

Ino still wasn't convinced that it wasn't really Kakuzu. So Hidan tried another tactic, "it wasn't him, I swear. Do you think Kakuzu would run away from me? And he didn't even use those sick threads of his, seriously. That. Wasn't. Kakuzu. Kakuzu rarely runs from a fight," he chuckled darkly, "unless it's Kisame he's up against. Then he runs."

The last part – which Sakura was pretty sure Hidan had said on purpose – made Ino laugh. She nudged him with his elbow and he lowered his head, refusing to look at her. She frowned.

Ino stood and brushed off her knees, "I'll leave you two alone now. Uh, have fun," she winked at Sakura and trotted off.

Sakura yanked Hidan to his feet, "you're absolutely positive that wasn't Kakuzu?"

"Yes. Like Kakuzu could recover from getting his chakra lines severed, and all his hearts stuck through, seriously."

Sakura sighed and grabbed his arm, "yeah, I guess you're right. So you're still having problems getting your... well, not really your pride back but... how to say this..."

"My ability to be sociable? My arrogance? My... my stupidity?" the way he said that made Sakura want to punch him. She whirled around instead and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him down to her height, "look, you aren't stupid. Don't let me catch you calling yourself stupid _ever_ again. You don't need someone to think for you. I told you to forget about the Akatsuki and everything that had happened to you there."

He sighed and unlatched her hands from his shirt, "do you have any idea how hard that is?"

"Kind of. Okay, fine, no I don't. How can I take your mind off of it? ... hm..." without waiting for a reply she dragged him down the street.

And right into the nearest club.

--

Sakura was bored now. Hidan had been sitting next to her, drinking glass after glass of something clear. She really wanted to dance, but he was very uninterested in dancing. She shot him a look.

"That better not be cyanide," she teased. He was probably trying to give her an unimpressed look but he couldn't help smiling, "don't be silly. I'm drinking -"

"Vodka?"

He scowled, "hell no. Water, woman, water. Getting drunk in a place like this is the worst. Besides, I'm religious... _was_. And I hate how alcohol tasted. Deidara and Kakuzu found that out the hard way."

"Huh?" she tilted her head at him, slightly disgruntled. She was supposed to be getting his mind _off_ them.

"... I spat it all over them," he explained with a smile. She smile back, focused chakra in her hand and yanked him toward the dance floor.

"I want to dance."

"S-Sakura..."

"I'm serious. I want to dance, and you're going to dance with me."

He sighed and to her joy complied. Sakura, of course, had no idea how to dance in a club but she wasn't about to let that on. She glanced quickly at a few other girls, quickly trying to memorize how they moved their hips and their bodies in general. She copied and turned to Hidan.

She almost let her job drop open when she saw that he was moving his body in time to the music's beat. He raised a hand and set it on her shoulder, guiding how she moved. She blinked at him, _'w-where did h-he learn to dance l-like this?'_

He guided one of her hands to his shoulder and she instinctively raised her other hand as the hand on her shoulder slid down to her back. She jumped closer to him when his right hand traced up her buttocks, making him smirk a little.

"Never done this before, have you?" he whispered somewhat smugly, making her body sway with his. The proximity was too much and Sakura could hardly hear herself as she replied, "I danced with Shikamaru once..."

This made him cock an eyebrow and he pulled her even closer so that there bodies were nearly melded together. She swallowed lightly.

Sakura rocked her body against his all the same though, even though she was more than a little nervous. And was surprised to find that she was glad the song was finally over. She quickly dragged Hidan off the floor, grabbed her purse and made for the door.

She glanced back at him to find him with a rather confused expression on his face; his eyebrows were also a bit knit at the center. She bit her lip and said rather quickly upon exit from the club, "so what's your place like?"

This time it was Hidan who did the grabbing of wrists, "why don't I show you?"

Before she could protest he was leading her away. Five minutes later they arrived at some apartment buildings, and after a one minute elevator ride she was standing in his apartment.

It was spacious and nice but that was beside the point. After closing and locking the door, Hidan had come up behind her, his hands on her hips. All her senses were over-powered by him.

"H-Hidan... ah..." he had slipped a hand over her stomach.

"Hm?" his lips were on her neck now. She tried to pull away but his tongue flicked over her neck, "uum..."

He nipped her earlobe and whispered, "do you think I didn't mean what I said? After I kissed you the first time... do you think I didn't fucking mean that?"

She closed her eyes tightly as one of his hands ventured lower. She spun and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his chin.

_'Don't,'_ she whimpered inwardly, hoping he would catch the drift. Thankfully he did and kept his hands on her back. He shuffled forward and she moved back.

"Sakura?"

"Y-yeah?"

She looked up at him, saw the tiny glitter of hope in his violet eyes, "will you go out with me to a movie tomorrow?"

* * *

Yay for sexy dancing.


	12. Chapter 12

Yes, there is something significant about that title. Anyway, this was **supposed** to be funny and cute and fluffy and everything but... BUT... I just had to write VAMP first. In VAMP a character dies. AND THUS. My mood was melancholy and this was produces. Another mysterious thing about Hidan that... is actually funny. I hope. Well, I'll make it funny. Um, I'm aware that one of my friends hadn't been able to submit a review for my revised and full-version of chapter 11. Yeah. Okay. xD (I have my last exam tomorrow. I am fretting over it like a fly frets over being a spider's lunch)

Hope you enjoy!

**

* * *

Chapter 12: Moovies.**

"I – I – you – you're making it h-hard for me to – hm! - reply," she stuttered out. He had backed her up against the wall without giving her time to think. His lips were on her collarbone, planting small kisses all over her exposed chest area. He laughed a little and pulled away, backing up against the wall.

"S-sorry," his face was a pretty shade of red. Sakura smiled uneasily, her face flushed, _'that was interesting.'_

_**'See? He meant it!'**_

_'Shut up before I find a way to shove you back into oblivion.'_

_**'Okay, okay.'**_

Sakura released a small sigh and thought about Hidan's request.

"Uh... uh... okay. But," she held up a finger and he released the breath he was going to use to speak, "you have to go to a picnic with me on Sunday. It will be with Naruto and Hinata."

"Okay... you make that sound like it's a bad thing, seriously," he commented off-handedly walking into the darkness of his living room. He flipped on the lights and gestured around the flat, "soo... welcome to my place."

Sakura's jaw hit the floor. She felt like she was in a bachelor's suite. Leather couches, flat screen T.V, two book shelves – _'he wasn't lying about liking to read'_ – a decent sized glass coffee table and dinner table. She walked toward the bedroom he had pointed at and she poked her head inside.

The first thing she saw was the huge terrarium against one wall of the room. There was a gorgeous black iguana. It stared at her with beady eyes and then hissed a little when Hidan put his hands on Sakura's waist. Sakura jumped, "um..."

"She doesn't like you now," he chuckled and walked over to the enclosure, flipping off the top. The iguana did not have to be invited and she – _'apparently'_ – nearly jumped out of the glass rectangle and into Hidan's arms.

"Oh gee!" he exclaimed; Sakura observed the animal and saw that it had two white circles under each eye. Hidan approached Sakura with the animal wrapped leisurely around his neck. She hissed a little again and Hidan laughed.

"Sakura, meet Lilith. Lilith, say hi," the iguana flicked her tail. Hidan laughed again and stroked her head affectionately. Sakura reached out and watched as Lilith watched the slow approach of Sakura's fingers. She swallowed lightly as the spikes on the back of Lilith's head flattened a little.

"Don't bite or I'll put you back in the cage," Hidan warned. Sakura's fingers touched Lilith's snout and the lizard's spikes fanned back up. She ducked her head as if to say "you may pet me" and Sakura did so while giggling.

"Didn't know you like reptiles," she commented as Hidan set Lilith back down. Hidan smiled shyly and shrugged, "I dunno, I saw her in the window and she... like, called out to. Or something... _yeah_."

He proceeded to exit the room. Sakura explored his room a bit more, glancing at the computer on his desk and the phone. He also had a mobile that she was tempted to look through, but she told herself that there was probably nothing on it because he never talked to anyone else.

She threw herself onto the bed and lay there for several minutes, inhaling Hidan's scent. He smelt so good. Like mangoes. Sakura likes mangoes.

"... Man goes..." she giggled at her own interpretation of the word. Hidan called out to her and she didn't reply. Instead she rolled over onto her back. He poked his head into the room and glared at her.

"Sakura. Get off my bed, seriously."

"Nope. I'm totally crashing here tonight. Totally."

He cocked an eyebrow at her and walked over. He leaned over her, bracing his arms on either side of her head. She blushed wildly, _'oops. S-shouldn't have said that.'_

"If that's the case..." he pressed his lips to hers roughly. He then bit her lower lip – hard. She jumped, blood dribbling a little onto her chin. Hidan proceeded to lick it up, seemingly savoring the taste. He licked her lip too, making her whimper and squirm.

"Why don't we forget about the movie and watch one here?" a flicker of worry sparked in his eyes as he frowned, "you look really tired anyway. What have you been doing all week?"

"Trying to stay away from Sasuke," she admitted, swallowing lightly as she thought, _'watch a movie here instead of out?'_

"But... our deal..."

Hidan sighed and pushed away, sitting on the bed instead. She sat up, "Sakura, I would've gone to the picnic with you anyway. You already told me that you wanted more than just a friendship with me. I'm the same damn way, seriously. I want you all to myself," he looked her in the eye, violet eyes blazing, "what more of a reason do you need to stay away from Sasuke than to tell him you're dating _me_?"

He was right. She didn't need to do anything tomorrow, which gave her plenty of time to rest before shopping with the girls.

"Okay. I'll stay home and rest tomorrow."

"Promise me you will."

"I promise. I'll go right home after work and sleep, or take a nice long bath."

"You do just that, seriously," and he strode out of the room. Lilith dragged her body in shortly after he left, looking longingly up at her terrarium. She turned a beady eye to Sakura and hissed lightly.

"You want up? Are you sure I can carry you?" Sakura asked her, kneeling down. She picked up the huge iguana, huffing a little, _'wow, she's heavier than I thought!'_ and placed her back inside the terrarium. The iguana looked pleased.

Sakura exited Hidan's room and closed the door. She followed the whistling sound he was making only to immediately retreat back to the living room and nose dive onto the couch. When she peeked over her shoulder at him his face was bright red.

"Sakura... I can see... white..."

She bolted into an upright position, "sorry. Uh, I didn't realize you were taking a shower."

He shrugged and walked into his room – after opening the door of course. Moments later he returned wearing only a pair of hip-hugging jeans. She squirmed in her seat.

_'He has -'_

_**'- a really, really nice back. That is such a nice back. Look at those muscles. Oh I'm getting horny just by looking at his **_**back****_.'_**

Sakura itched to just rip Inner Sakura out of her head, _'yes he has a nice back. Now get back in your corner. I don't want you ruining anything.'_

**_'Aw...'_** Inner Sakura sighed but returned obediently back to her corner. Sakura knew her inner self was going to end up hating that place. Hidan was holding up a few DVDs. He tossed them to her.

"Which one you wanna' watch?"

Sakura was holding one that was apparently all about chickens.

"What about this?" she saw the look on his face and Sakura defended herself, "hey, I'm in the mood for something silly, so don't give me that face."

He snickered behind his hand and deliberately stretched in front of her. Sakura struggled to contain her blush. Hidan took the movie from her and popped it in. He tossed the case – Chicken Run – aside and returned to Sakura.

He looked like he was asleep during the second half of the movie and Sakura had no idea how he could sleep with her sitting right next to him laughing her head off. When the movie was drawing to a close – and all the chickens were in their little plane – Sakura accidentally jostled Hidan. He jolted awake and pinned her down out of reflex.

She furrowed her brows at his troubled expression.

When Hidan realized what he'd done and who he was pinning down – none too gently either – he jumped up and scurried into the kitchen like a scared insect. She stared after him, watched the closing scene of two kissing chickens and swiftly followed after Hidan.

He was leaning against the counter, head down, muttering about something. Sakura quickly strode over to him, red dress swishing. He jerked his head up, banging it against the cupboard behind him. His face contorted with pain and she rushed over to touch his face.

"Hidan!? Why is your face so warm?" she checked him for a fever quickly. He opened his eyes and tried to push her away, "i-it's nothing. I would have told you if I had my fever back and you know that."

She didn't relent and instead kept him cornered there against the counter, "what's going on in your head Hidan? Tell me what's going on. What were you muttering about just now?"

"... something I'd fucking have tolerated if it came back at any other damn time than this, seriously."

"... what?"

"It's something I want to forget!" he snapped, staring down at her. She stared up at him, puzzled.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it's a – it's something I don't want you to know about me. And the things I used to do. When I was still a freaking Jashinist."

She sighed and gave up, "alright, alright. Tell me though. I want to know. I'm your girlfriend now so I'm allowed to be nosy."

"Trade you."

Her face reddened in anger, _'nice one. Go on and waggle your tongue. Of course he's going to ask for something!'_

"Tell you what," she pressed closer to him, "I'll _give_ you something instead. Sound fair?"

"Hnn..." he attempted to push her away again. She brushed her fingers over his face; warm again, and quite red. She wrapped a hand around his bicep and licked his jawline. He pressed one of his hands against the counter and

held her shoulder firmly with the other hand. To her joy, he didn't protest and so she continued.

She sunk one her canines through his lower lip and sucked on it for a bit. His hand tightened around her shoulder. She pressed her lips to his, slipping her tongue between the small synapse in her lips to brush over his. She felt his lips part.

In went her tongue, excited and exploring. Her tongue brushed against his long one and soon she was warring with him. And suddenly it ended and Hidan scooped her up.

"Right! Time for bed! Let's go!"

She threw her head back and whined, "Hhhhiiiiiiddddddaaaaaannnnnnnn!"

He merely laughed as he plunked her down on the bed, crawling over her, "hm, now where were we... ah yes."

He captured her lips before she could squeak. His tongue probed around in her mouth, sweeping along her tongue in long caresses. Sakura rested her right hand on his left bicep, pressing her other hand to the back of his head. She pulled herself up a bit, running one of her ankles over the back of his calf.

Sakura could feel a bit of saliva trailing down her chin and she drew back for a breath. He took one too; she felt it. Soon his lips were back on hers, tongue still curious. He pushed her down and held her there with his body, refusing to get up. He shifted his weight and Sakura couldn't help herself.

"_Ah-hnm _Hidan..." she moaned against his mouth, raking her stout fingernails over his sweaty back. He froze at the sound of her voice and backed off completely. He had a solemn expression on his face as he flipped the covers out from under her and flipped the blanket onto her.

Sakura stared up at him, lost, _'what's going on? Why is he looking at me like that? Damn it... it was getting so good too...'_

He wiped away the saliva on her chin, making her blush at the fact that she had failed to wipe it away herself. He stuck his thumb in his mouth which made her blush harder.

"Go to sleep, Sakura," he instructed, approaching the terrarium where Lilith impatiently awaited him. Sakura started to get out of the bed, "Hidan -!"

He was back at her side in a flash, Lilith in his arms. He pushed her down and placed a finger against her lips, shaking his head, "no, Sakura. Sleep."

He walked out of his room, giving her no hope to argue. She lay against the pillows and fell into a troubled sleep.

* * *

Yeah, you read that right. CHICKEN RUN. That's why the title is "moo"vies. Moo. Moooooo. Okay, maybe you don't get it, but I thought it was funny... and I wanted to give Sakura a valid reason for staying at Hidan's. Yeah. I'm weird like that. xD. And yes, everytime I imagine Hidan with a pet, it's not with a dog, or a cat or some other vicious animal but with an IGUANA. Because iguanas are cool. And black iguanas exist. I do not joke *ambles off to write/draw*


	13. Chapter 13

This would be a lot longer, since I was going to have the picnic in it too but I decided to save that for next chapter. Because I couldn't make the idea of Hidan getting all weird and avoidant away from something sad and disturbing. Enjoy.

PS - I love Lilith.  
**

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Chapter 13: Truths.**

When Sakura awoke she found Lilith had nested herself on Sakura's stomach.

_'No wonder my stomach hurts... ugh...'_ she tried to move the iguana; Lilith refused to budge. Sakura groaned, "oh, come on, Lilith. You're hurting my tummy."

"Hurting your tummy, eh?"

For a moment Sakura actually thought that the iguana had spoken to her. Her face flushed when she saw Hidan standing in the entrance to his room, a fork in his mouth.

"Eating without me?" she teased, attempting again to get the reptile off her stomach. Lilith hissed at her.

"Aw, Lil. You're such a grouch in the morning, seriously," Hidan complained lightly, walking over and easily lifting the lizard off of Sakura. Lilith protested with a short hiss, but otherwise allowed Hidan to place her back inside her terrarium. Hidan beckoned to Sakura and the girl got out of bed.

"Well, yeah I started eating without you. I woke up at six. It's seven-thirty."

"Seven-thirty?" Sakura repeated, stunned. Her shift started in three hours, "my shift starts in three hours."

"Hm..." was all Hidan said. Breakfast – scrambled eggs and toast – was eaten in silence. Sakura watched Hidan, worry in her eyes. He was unusually silent.

_**'Maybe he's brooding?'**_

_'What the heck would he be brooding about?'_

_**'Dunno. YES I'm going back to my corner now...'**_

Sakura released a short sigh then asked, "Hidan, what's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothings wrong, seriously."

She gave him a look. He gave her a convincing smile, "really, Sakura. Nothings wrong."

Sakura continued to stare hard at him. He looked over his shoulder at the clock, "oh gee..."

"'Oh gee' what?"

"It's eight-forty. Seriously," he pointed with his fork at the clock. Sakura huffed and rose, storming into the bathroom.

"I'm using your toothbrush!" and before he could so much as voice his protest she shoved it in her mouth. He poked his head around the corner, peering into the bathroom to see that she was indeed using it. He made a face and returned to the table. She heard the clatter of dishes and felt somewhat bad; she should probably do the dishes.

After she'd finished brushing her teeth and washing her face, she walked into the kitchen only to find that Hidan was already done with the dishes. And staring out the kitchen window, brooding again.

_'That is really starting to freak me out.'_

"Hidan?"

He jumped a little before turning, "what?"

"What _are_ you thinking about?"

"... some things."

Sakura's eyes narrowed at him, "thinking about _what_? 'Some things' doesn't really answer my question."

The frantic look his eyes took on told her he was honestly looking for an escape of some kind. Then he sighed and leaned back on his hands, "it's not important, seriously."

"You've been really quiet, Hidan. I want to _know_ what's going on in that head of yours."

He sighed again and rubbed at the back of his head, "what time is it?"

She gave him a look and walked out of the kitchen so she could look at the clock, "it's nine-fifteen. Why do you want to know?"

"I've got an appointment with Tsunade-sama."

Sakura blinked at this, _'when did he start calling her Tsunade-sama?'_

He found her in her confused state and face palmed, "I never did tell you I've been doing missions lately did I?"

Sakura's face turned a bit red, "no, you didn't."

"Heh, sorry... I meant to but... I guess it slipped my mind... uh, yeah so... I guess I should get you home and you should get ready for work. I have to be at the tower in... er... fifteen minutes. Yeah..."

Two things about his manner of speech frightened Sakura. One was the severe lack of swear words – all morning. The second being his _lack_ of speech. He was being so unnaturally quiet.

_'Oh, I really want to know what he's thinking... it's scaring me...'_ she walked back into his room and stared at Lilith for a moment. Sakura sighed and walked over to reach inside the terrarium. She gently stroked Lilith's head and then retracted her hand, walking back into the living room.

Hidan stood in the mouth of the hallway, staring off into space. Instead of calling out his name she approached him and wrapped her arms around his chest. This made him jump and wrap his arms around her at the same time.

"You better not be like this during the picnic," she muttered into his chest. He released a breath against her head – she interpreted it as a small laugh. She rested her chin on his chest so that she could look up at his face. Sakura ended up staring. He had the cutest, most serene smile gracing his lips.

"I'll try not to be, seriously."

She patted his arm, "good. I'll be going then," Sakura started on her way toward the door after stepping around him.

"Hey, hold on a second," Hidan muttered lusciously, one large hand closing around her bicep. She only managed to release a short startled squeak as she was jerked back against his chest. He pressed his lips roughly to hers. She weaved her fingers through his short silver hair.

He separated from her a bit nosily, smiling down at her. He spun her around and gave her a light tap on her bottom. Blushing furiously, Sakura made a beeline for the door and after unlocking it she raced outside.

Once inside her apartment she quickly changed into her nurse uniform and was out the door by ten. She squinted up at the Hokage Tower before going inside the hospital. She had seen three silhouettes; one being her master's, the other being Shizune's and the other – hopefully – being Hidan.

Half-way through her shift – after lunch – Sakura was called to the emergency room. She sighed at the sight.

The ANBU lying on the operation table was a complete mess. She did a quick check after securing her hair in a pony-tail.

Both of her shoulders were dislocated, one of her shin's was shattered beyond repair and about six ribs were broken. One of her lungs was punctured and by the looks of it some of her face was blown off. The young nurses and doctors around Sakura stared up at her, determined to know what they could do. Sakura took a steadying breath.

"... there's nothing we can do for her. Her left shin is shattered beyond repair. Both her shoulders are dislocated, half of her face is gone – who knows what that may have done to her brain – she's got a punctured lung and six broken ribs," Sakura shook her head, "we can take away the pain... and that's the least we can do."

One of the other medics stepped forward. She was a young girl with tapered green hair. There was a fiery look on her face, "surely we can reconstruct her -"

"The only person who can reconstruct her shin, ligaments, ribs and face is gone. Mel was sent out on an ANBU mission," Sakura said, a hint of envy in her voice. Mel was the same age as her and had been training under Tsunade for three years. It irked Sakura that his level of skill had topped hers within his first year of training.

_'Naturally gifted, Sakura. He's naturally gifted,'_ Sakura told herself repeatedly as she took her gloves off, "but since you men and women seem really eager to get her through... I'd say try your best to keep her alive. I'll see if I can get them to call Mel back," she turned to see that the green-haired girl's face had brightened up. She felt bad for needing to add the last bit of information, "however, I can't guarantee he'll be able to get back. I don't even know where he is, and the ANBU squad may need him."

The girl's face fell but they all nodded, and Sakura made her way back out of the emergency room. She walked into her office and glanced at the clock before sighing. There was still another hour left of her shift, and she impatiently tapped her fingernails against her desk.

_'Guess I better see about getting Mel back here...'_

--

"Sakura, I thought you promised me that you were going to go home and _rest._"

"I know what I promised. I'd be at home right now if Sasuke wasn't stalking around my apartment. Really," she assured, trying to be as convincing as possible.

Hidan wasn't buying it and he stayed planted in the doorway of his apartment, leaning against the door frame. Sakura sighed and massaged her forehead.

She observed Hidan and noticed something very odd about his hair. It looked like there was a piece of string around his head.

_'Piece of string...? Wait a minute. Wait just one damn minute!!'_

"Hidan. Are you...? That string?" unfortunately for Hidan, Sakura's excitement took over and she jumped onto him, snatching the porcelain mask off his head as he struggled to keep his balance. He ended up stumbling back into his apartment.

Sakura's face was aglow with pride and she stared up at him, her green eyes wide and bright.

"Hidan! You're an ANBU?!" he timidly nodded his head, trying to hide his smile. She threw her arms around his neck, staring at the cat mask over his shoulder. There was a perfect circle in the middle of the forehead and underneath the eyes were half-circles that widened more at the end of the eye holes. It looked like a replica of his curse form. The marks were a purplish-magenta color.

"I can't believe it! You made ANBU!" she wouldn't stop squealing in delight, holding the mask firmly between her hands and refusing to let it go. Hidan dumped her on the couch underneath his window.

"I can't believe it either, seriously. Now do me a favor and stay put," he ordered, moving away and going toward the phone. He picked it up – it was wireless – and dialed a number while sitting down on the couch in front of the T.V. Sakura watched him with interest.

"Yo, Shika. Yeah uh... Sasuke is apparently stalking around Sakura's place... no I haven't been done there, seriously. I'd go but I can't leave her," there was a pause and Hidan glanced at her before cupping his freehand over his mouth and whispering into the phone. She furrowed her brows at him, _'what is he hiding?'_

He listened to whatever Shikamaru was saying and then released a breath of relief, "aw, thanks man. I owe you," there was another pause and Hidan chuckled, "I know you find me troublesome but you really do like me don't you?" another pause; Hidan held the phone away from his ear and Sakura could hear Shikamaru yelling. She didn't think he was serious though, because when Hidan put the phone back against his ear he started laughing.

"Well at least you interpreted that right... anyway, so I'll let you do your thing, seriously. Thanks again. Yeah 'aight man, I'll talk to you later."

He hung up and a sullen expression came over his face. Silence hung heavily in the air for the next five minutes until Hidan got up and approached Sakura, his expression oddly serious. Sakura gently placed the ANBU mask to the side.

"What? What's with the face?" she questioned as he sat down, taking both of her hands in his.

"I've got something to tell you."

Sakura tensed -- "it's got something to do with last night" -- she relaxed.

He looked her in the eye as he expressed, "you know, the first girl I ever loved had pink hair."

Sakura started giggling; Hidan didn't share her laughter, "you aren't the fist girl I loved."

Sakura's giggling came to an abrupt stop and she bit her lip. Something about his voice frightened her. The way he was being so dead-serious gave her chills. His semi-angry expression made her want to draw away, but he held her hands tightly between his.

"You told me that you wanted to know what I was thinking about. This is what I was thinking about. The first girl I ever loved had pink hair..." he dropped her hands and glared out the window, clawing at his chest for something that wasn't there.

"... she was also the first person I sacrificed."

* * *

PSS - I love you guys too :)

Hope you liked this strange chapter. Yes. Strange indeed.


	14. Chapter 14

Bleh. This chapter is... odd, very odd. Hidan's naughty mouth is back. And I actually remembered that Sakura had called about Mel... so yeah, the ANBU girl that was one the operation table is dealt with in thie chapter. Hurr hurr hurr. The ending is most likely rushed. I like the whole thing over all though. More about Hidan's squad in the chapter after next. I'm doing Neji's birthday which is thankfully in July. So the picnic makes perfect sense ^^.

AND DON'T ASK ME WHY HIDAN SAYS "WEAR" INSTEAD OF "WHERE". THE STORY WILL TELL YOU.

Plus, if you guys want a better story about Hidan's past go to my profile and read the story called "My life, my Dove". It's much better than this... /sigh. Or read VAMP. Or something. LOL. I want my stories to have attention too .

**

* * *

Chapter 14: Picnics and shopping.**

Sakura stared at him, then at his hand clawing at his chest. She furrowed her brows when she saw that in his frenzied scratching he had actually made himself bleed.

"Hidan, stop it."

He glanced at her, violet eyes oddly wide. Frightened and worried, Sakura grabbed his hand and yanked him toward her, "_stop it_! You're scaring me!"

She healed his chest with a shaking hand while he muttered "sorry sorry" over and over again. After Sakura had finished healing him he sat back up and settled for staring at her with an overall calm expression. Sakura glared at him then asked, "the first girl you sacrificed?"

He nodded his head slowly, "... yeah... my old religion, Sakura. You just have to ask Shika how much I shrieked about it, heh. I lost faith after... well, after I told him that my god would smite him and nothing happened. For eight fucking years."

Sakura frowned, "but what about this girl? You sound like you sacrificed her against your will."

"That's because I did. They made me. And after that I ran away and joined the Akatsuki. So they would leave me alone," he released a short whimper at the end and fell into her arms. She stroked his head, "oh, Hidan..."

He pressed his face to the side of her neck, "I hadn't known that a Jashinist is only allowed to love another Jashinist... I didn't fucking ask. 'Cause I was too proud to. Too arrogant... gawds, if there's one damn thing I don't want back it's my arrogance... seriously."

Sakura continued to stroke his head, _'just let him talk.'_

"I explained to her... it made the other Jashinists mad as hell that I was taking time to _explain _to her that I had to sacrifice her because I had no other choice and all this shit. So I gave 'em hell and told them to leave if they didn't want to waste their time standing around and listening to me blab. So they left. And I ran off with her. And I sacrificed her and then buried her and then prayed for her and then took off running to god knows where. I just fucking ran."

"They never found you, did they?"

He shook his head against her neck and curled closer to her, like he was trying to protect her from some unseen force, "I could feel them every damn place I went though. I think they're still looking for me... I don't even know why I remembered her... damn it..."

He pushed back up, wrapping his hands gently around her shoulders. He took a breath before looking up, "I'm freaking you out now, aren't I?"

"A little..."

He sighed, "I'm sorry, seriously."

She pet him on the head, "it's okay. I can tell that your past is... very topsy-turvy."

"Yeah..."

There was a ringing sound and Sakura jumped. Hidan had tensed and wouldn't relax at all. After the second ring – and after realizing Hidan wasn't going to move – Sakura got up to answer the phone.

"_Hello?"_

"Uh, hi," Sakura replied cautiously. She didn't recognize the voice on the other end of the line.

"_Is this Sakura?"_

"Yes. Who told you I was here?" she half-demanded. It became clear to her that it was a medic on the other side of the line.

"_Uh, Shikamaru-san told me that if I couldn't get a hold of you at your apartment that I should try this number. It's your-?"_

"Boyfriend's. Why are you calling?"

"_You made a request for Mel to come back. Tsunade-sama said it was impossible to pull him out of the field. The girl... I'm sorry."_

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The ANBU girl. She'd completely forgotten she had called Tsunade to see if Mel could be pulled back. She'd completely forgotten about the girl.

"She – she died, didn't she?" Sakura said shakily into the phone. At the mention of death Hidan was by her side, chin on her shoulder. She leaned back against him for support.

"_Yes... I – I'm terribly sorry, Sakura-san. I know that this – this is the first death of someone in your ward... and one of your underlings... she was... she was very upset. You may have a storm to deal with tomorrow. I hope you – I hope you have a good sleep, Sakura-san."_

"Thank you for telling me. I'll deal with her tomorrow," Sakura swallowed the lump rising in her throat. The first person to die under her care. How could she have let herself think that Tsunade would pull Mel back just for her?

"If you could do me one more favor?"

"_Yes?"_

"Burn the paper with the number on it. Please."

"_Hai. I'll do it as soon as I hang up."_

"Thank you. Good night."

"_Good night, Sakura-san. Sleep well."_

Sakura hung up and turned, burying her face in Hidan's chest and wrapping her arms around his neck. He hugged her and asked quietly, "who died?"

"An ANBU under my care. I let myself believe that Tsunade-shishou would pull Mel back just because I asked. I was so stupid... and I didn't do anything because I believed that."

"Sakura... is there any way you could have saved her? Even if you had tried?" he made her look up at him. She called back the sight of the girl, with her destroyed face and dislocated shoulders.

"No," she replied squarely, "there was nothing I could have done anyway. It was better to let her die. At least it ended her pain."

Hidan smiled grimly at her, "that's the shinobi life, seriously."

He touched his lips to hers then spun her around and pushed her toward the door, "I have a meeting to go to. I'm going to see my new squad and all that crap. Go home and try to sleep neh?"

Sakura scrunched her eyes up at him but picked up her purse anyway. She headed to the door and he called after her, "call me if you really can't sleep, Sakura. I'll be back here at ten or ten-thirty."

She nodded her head as she left his apartment and started toward her own. She did end up calling him but insisted that he stay at his home. She just wanted to talk to him about his meeting. After a brief explanation he promised to take her to the squad's night out next week on Thursday. He just needed to ask for permission from his squad leader first.

Sakura slept soundly after that.

--

"You could have done something! You didn't have to wait and – and see if Mel could come back!"

"Calm down. I highly doubt Mel would have been able to get back in time anyway."

"You sound like you don't care!" Shelly shrieked. Her face was tinged red from anger at her superior and Sakura rubbed her fingers against her forehead. She glared over at the girl.

"Look. I have thirty other people in my ward that had a higher chance of living than her. Now you listen to me," she commanded when she saw Shelly was about to argue, "considering the condition your sister was in, it was better to let her die. She would have never been able to do anything for at least three years, even if Mel had gotten back here in time to save her."

The two women glared at each other for a moment of tense silence until Sakura asked, "would you rather your sister be alive and in excruciating pain or dead and at peace?"

After another minute of tense silence Shelly's head dropped and she meekly replied, "dead and at peace."

Sakura slowly nodded her head before saying, "then please go see to the patient in room forty. I'm sorry, Shelly. There really was nothing I could have done to help your sister."

Still with her head down Shelly nodded. She turned on her heel and briskly walked out of Sakura's office. Sakura sighed and buried her face in her hands, _'storm indeed. Gosh was she angry! Thank goodness I managed that with a cool-head instead of my usual temper.'_

Sakura continued with her paper work until Ino burst into her office with a bag, "alright Sakura it's time to go! I brought you a change of clothes from my place so you're changing into them now and coming with me!"

Sakura stared at her blonde friend and stuttered, "I-Ino I s-still have work to do!"

Ino jabbed a finger at the clock, which read four-thirty when Sakura looked at it.

"There's only five minutes left to your shift. I made a mistake and asked some of the boys to come with us, and Neji asked Hidan. So Hidan's coming too. Here's the clothes, and here's some make up. Oh, and some jewelry," Ino added, taking a small bag out of her large purse and dropping it inside the bag she had been carrying.

"I'm so glad you wore high heels today!" Ino called after her as Sakura dashed off to the bathroom to change.

_'Ino and her obsessions. OKAY this is one short skirt...'_ Sakura bit her lip but pulled the brown ruffled skirt on anyway. It barely touched the middle of her thighs. A pale blue halter was next to come out of the bag and she quickly pulled that on. In the jewelry bag she found some medium sized hoop earrings and blue and silver bangles. She slipped the bangles on and got on the earrings.

_'Oh! This is my favorite necklace of Ino's... and she never wears it,'_ Sakura joyously put on the pale blue beaded necklace. The pendant hanging from it was actually in the shape of a foot. The toes were stones that had pale teal lines on a darker teal, and six gems were along one side of the foot, two of them being blue.

A quick brush of plum eyeshadow and sparkly gloss later, and Sakura was ready. She walked quickly out of the bathroom and nearly bumped into Ino.

"Keys in your purse. Organized your office a bit too. And you call me a pig," Ino scolded, sticking her tongue out at Sakura. Sakura stuck out her tongue in response.

"Thanks, Ino-pig."

They two girls met up with Hinata and Tenten at Ichiriku Ramen and continued on to the Konoha's mall. They spotted Neji, Naruto and Shikamaru lounging around. Shikamaru saw them first and waved before nearly getting tackled to the ground by Hidan.

The two got into a scuffle that Sakura found extremely entertaining. After seeing the men all dressed in mainly jeans and t-shirts – Hidan was wearing a muscle shirt – Sakura felt very over-dressed. And her short skirt wasn't helping.

Hidan just stared at her before zipping over to stand beside her. His arm slung over her shoulders, "hey, baby."

She blushed and tapped his chest, "hey."

He proceeded to drag her toward the mall. The others hurried after them, in their respective pairs. Once inside the mall and glanced around then looked at Sakura.

"So... wear to?"

She laughed when she realized which 'where' he had just said, and the other couples stared at them before joining in the laughter.

--

The next day – Sunday – Sakura woke up feeling very well rested. She got out of bed and glanced at the clock. She shreiked.

"_It's twelve already!?! OH MY GAWD I'M LATE!!"_

She flew out of bed and into the bathroom where she attempted to brush her teeth and comb her hair at the same time. She succeeded when she stuck the brush between one of her feet and tilted sideways.

She rushed out of the bathroom and inwardly cried; there was no time for make-up or anything fancy. She left her hair down and literally jumped into her halter summer dress. It swished around her legs as she grabbed a tube of lip gloss and quickly put some on. She grabbed her small white purse, the keys from their hook and her phone from the table. Her feet slipped into pale blue flats.

Sakura was out the door and down the hall while slipping star-shaped earrings on. Half-way down the stairs and she had on a silver necklace. Her watch completed her outfit once she reached the bottom of the stairs. She took off at a brisk walk toward the park. She was supposed to meet Hidan at the oak tree half an hour ago.

At the entrance to the park she forced herself to calm down and walk at a normal speed.

_'No harm done. Maybe he isn't even here yet. Yes. Maybe. Maybe he's here but was also late. Oh Kami I hate being late,'_ she ranted to herself while rounding the bend to the oak tree. Nobody was there and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," she whispered as she walked up to the tree to wait. No sooner did her hand touch it did someone whistle. Sakura spun around, her dress flaring up.

She stared.

Hidan was walking toward her wearing a dark blue pair of jeans. He was wearing a short sleeved button down shirt – that was checkered – and underneath it was a white tank top. That was slightly see through. He came up to stand in front of her and ran his hands down her sides appreciatively.

"Love your dress, Sakura. Who would have thought that pale blue looked good on you?"

She smiled up at him and pressed a hand to the back of his neck. They shared a gentle kiss before continuing on to the hills where the cherry blossom trees were, hand in hand. A warm breeze came up and Sakura sighed happily. She loved the month of July.

Naruto and Hinata had already set up the picnic and all four were enjoying their lunch. Sakura insisted that she feed Hidan his salad and he let her while rolling his eyes. Naruto laughed at this and was immediately silenced by Hinata shoving some greens in his mouth.

His protests were muffled as he flailed his arms around helplessly. Hinata giggled and shoved more greens into his mouth before finally relenting.

Once they finished their meal they talked about Neji's surprise party.

"You gonna' come, Hidan?"

"Yeah sure. Sounds like fun, seriously."

Sakura grinned then asked Hinata, "so, what exactly should we wear."

Hinata giggled behind her hand, "something that isn't dressy. Jeans, khakis, it doesn't matter. Just nothing fancy. I already tried to explain casual to Ino but... it didn't work very well."

The four laughed at that and Sakura agreed, "well, that's Ino for you!"

Hidan grabbed Sakura's hand and looked at her watch. A frown touched his lips and he rose.

"I gotta' go. I've got another meeting with my squad."

Sakura stared up at him, frowning, "another meeting? Don't tell me you guys have a mission coming up."

"We do. Uh, we might need a medic, so I'll put your name in, seriously. And I'll ask about you joining us for the dinner too, don't worry. See you later."

He bent over to peck Sakura on the lips. As he walked away Sakura called after him, "call me when you get home!"

He nodded and waved.

* * *

Oh yeah. My Hidan says "seriously" a lot. Because it's cute. And things. And stuff. Yeah. I'm tired. School starts tomorrow. I'll be doing a Valentine's special, so this story might go on Hiatus for like, a day or two. XD. OH. Who should I do the Valentine's special on? Give me some ideas.


	15. Chapter 15

**Oh look guys. Arre updated for once. WEEE!! I'm updating this story because... everyone reads it.**

...

Yeah. So it's being updated. And now you know Hidan's squad. And no I don't go into detail about Neji's party. I would have gone psychotic. OH and if you guys are wondering why I haven't been updating I was sick for the past three weeks and AP English is really taking it's toll on my writing ability. Yes.

**

* * *

Chapter 15: Meetings and celebrations.**

"You all know that our next mission is the retrieval of the flower that can cure Hidan's – our immortal – ailment. This is going to be a very difficult mission, seeing as there is only one known person that can assist in finding it. The other is any member of the Jashin religion."

"But isn't Hidan a member?"

"Previous damn member, seriously," Hidan scoffed, "if I was still a member," he leaned forward and licked his lips, "I wouldn't have this ailment of mine."

The female branch member from the Hyuuga clan made a soft "oh" and focused her eyes back on Neji, their squad leader. Hidan looked her over.

Her name was Hakura – Haku for short – and she looked nearly identical to Hinata. Her hair, however, was a lavender color and she had two thick strands in front of either of her ears instead of one like the heiress. Hakura had the square bangs that flopped over her forehead – those were mostly there to hide the curse mark. She refused to wear a cloth over her forehead like Neji did.

Neji looked between the his four squad mates before continuing, "the one known person is Kisame. As you all know, he has been presumed dead _however_, according to Hidan the Akatsuki is still thriving. A member of theirs was here not too long ago; a shape shifter of sorts."

Neji turned his body to Hakura, "sister, what news of this friend of yours?"

She smiled, "he will meet us at the large blue oak tree at the base of the mountain where we will begin our search."

Neji nodded and Hidan leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. He glanced at the blonde woman next to him, _'will she never stop staring at me? It's seriously getting creepy.'_

She was a beautiful woman, there was no denying that. Her blonde hair fell in curls over her shoulders and her amethyst eyes were framed by curled lashes. Liadra, however, relied too heavily on makeup. Hidan could see a bit of a clump of mascara in her eyelashes. A light blush suddenly came over Liadra's cheeks and Hidan suppressed a sigh. He focused his eyes on the last member of their group; a young green-haired lad.

His eyes and hair were green, though his eyes were more of a deep forest green than his pale hair. His skin was tan; hair cropped short. His body was slimmer than Neji's and of Hidan's knowledge of the boy he had not been a part of a village until he joined Konoha. He had come to the village without any remembrance of his name or his previous clan, and so he was dubbed Kono by Tsunade. Hidan thought it fitting.

_'Oh hey... I've never seen that kid use his techniques before,'_ Hidan jerked his head up slightly. Those deep green eyes shifted to him immediately.

"Hey, Kono. What's your affinity? I don't believe I've seen you... well, fight before."

Kono tilted his head at Hidan, "I always thought you weren't the very talkative sort. But – but that's besides the point! My affinity... I – I don't actually know. Yamato-sempai thinks that I am from the – the Senju clan but I can't be sure."

"So that means your affinity would be wood, eh?"

"Yes."

Hidan settled for staring at him then and thought back to his first comment _"I always thought you weren't the very talkative sort."_

_'Our second meeting and I've already given the wrong impression of myself. Sheesh.'_

Hidan couldn't blame Kono for thinking he wasn't talkative; he'd spoken very little during both meetings, this second meeting being the most times he had spoken.

"Ah, by the way, Neji-san," Neji gave Hidan his attention, "can Sakura come to our... squad outing?"

Neji didn't notice as he replied "yes" that Liadra had tensed and bitten her lip.

_'Well better she freaking know than not, seriously.'_

"And would anyone like to suggest a medic to come with us on the mission?"

Hidan _knew_ that the question was directed at him because he could feel Neji's eyes boring a hole into his skull. Hidan swallowed lightly before rising to his feet; the others also did so, save for Neji.

"Sakura Haruno, as medic for us," he muttered, his ears turning a bit pink. Neji nodded his head slowly, "very well, I will consult Tsunade-sama about that."

Hidan felt a wave of relief flow through him, _'oh, thank Kami...'_

While they were filing out Hidan heard Neji call out, "Hidan, stay behind for a moment. The rest of you can leave."

A hand came a clenched at Hidan's heart, _'this can't be a frikkin' good thing...'_

When Hidan turned around it looked as thought Neji was deliberating between telling him something. Eventually he made up his mind, "Hidan, I really don't want to be the one to tell you this, but I must, because I am your squad leader and it is my duty to. I am aware of your relationship with Sakura. I know that you realize this may affect your ability to fight during the mission if it comes to that. I ask that you will listen and obey all my orders, and hold your post whether or not Sakura is in danger. Do not leave your post without my command."

The Hyuuga closed his eyes and rubbed his temple, while Hidan stood by with tight lips. He knew this talk was coming. Hidan had never heard it before but he'd known.

"Do you understand, Hidan?"

"Hai."

"You understand that even if Sakura's _life_ is in danger, you cannot. Leave. Your. Post."

Hidan's lips quivered and still he responded, "yes."

"If in doubt on the battlefield Hidan remember these two things: Sakura is first and foremost a shinobi, and a medic that has super human strength. She can and must defend herself. She can't rely on you for protection, nor can you rely on her for protection. It may also come to..." Neji took a deep breath, "it may also come to the fact that you may have to have your body heal naturally, if she is too weak, tired or if your other squad mates are in need of medical attention. Do I... make myself clear?"

The question was stated gently even though Hidan knew Neji knew the answer, "yes. You make it pretty damn close to crystal clear."

Neji released a sigh of relief, "good... you are dismissed."

Hidan was half-way out of the room when he turned and asked, "why do you seem so nervous telling me something every squad captain has to?"

Neji gave him a sheepish look, "because your older than me."

Hidan laughed loudly at the excuse.

--

Sakura sat staring at her phone, waiting for it to ring, _'he promised he'd call! And I'm tired... it's already past midnight...'_

She stifled another yawn and lay her head against her arms. Just as she did so the phone started ringing and as she reached for it, the answering machine came on. Her fingers twitched at the receiver.

"_Hey, Sakura,"_ Hidan's voice carried smoothly over the speaker, _"I know you're probably sitting there next to the phone wondering when I'm going to call. Don't pick up, babe, just go to sleep. I'll sing to you if it'll make you feel better."_

Sakura grinned like a spoiled girl and hurried to her room. Hidan sang softly, and even then his voice was loud. She fell asleep too soon for her liking – Hidan had an amazing voice – but that didn't really matter. She had him on a recording now.

--

Lee came rushing back into the room and he whispered fiercely, "he's coming! Every one to your places!"

Sakura and Hidan ducked behind to couch according to Lee's master "Surprise-Birthday-Party-For-Neji" plan. She started giggling and Hidan had no choice but to silence her with his lips. He gave her a dirty look after that, like he had known she'd giggled on purpose.

_'Well, he has gotten a lot better at figuring those things out... darn... OH I hear Neji!'_

The room fell completely silent as the lock in the door turned and the door opened. As soon as the light's came on everyone jumped up, out and sideways from their hiding places shouting "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEJI!!" at the tops of their voices. Naruto and Kiba both skidded across the floor, Sasuke fell flat on his face, Ino collapsed over him and Temari somehow managed to fall on Ino.

Sai, Shikamaru and Chouji got into a tangle and Kakashi had some how fallen onto the couch. Sakura guessed that that was Gai's fault. She and Hidan exchanged glances before Hidan looked at Neji and shrugged, "well I guess we're the only ones who managed to save face."

Neji blinked rapidly at them, and burst into laughter moments later.

--

"Well, the party was great."

"Mm..."

"Cake was frikkin' good, seriously," Hidan mumbled, dragging his hand along Sakura's back. She "mm"ed again, giving the impression that she was already asleep. He knew better though, _'she likes to pretend she's asleep so she can catch me off guard.'_

Ever since the end of the party she'd been trying to get him to come over to her apartment. He wasn't having any of that and explained to her, "look, I have two women in my life. One is a human – you – the other is Lilith. She doesn't like it when I stay away from home so much already."

Though he hadn't convinced her to go home, Hidan had managed to get her to understand that he wanted to go to his own place.

_'She just _had_ to follow me...'_

He rubbed his hand up and down her back and spoke casually, "so, I asked my squad leader if you could come. He said yes. And I put your name in. He'll have to consult Tsunade-sama but..."

Sakura bolted up instantly, "but what?"

He gazed steadily into her wide eyes, _'I supposed it wouldn't hurt to tell her the... truth...'_

He shifted and then continued, "but I won't be able to protect you all the time. He knows about the relationship so... I'm not allowed to leave my post, no matter what happens. And everyone else has priority over heals, no matter how much you might want to heal me. Eh, don't argue. My body can heal itself."

"What if you get blown up again?!" she cried, grasping his shirt tightly in her hands. Hidan's lips formed a straight, hard line.

"I won't. That won't happen. Ever. Again."

* * *

Hope you liked it. *wavers off*


	16. Chapter 16

**Will be wrapped up in 8 chapters.**

And it really kind of irks me that a lot of people like the story I don't like so much. I mean seriously. This story was meant to be six chapters long...

Laugh out loud :)

**

* * *

Chapter 16: Too Deep.**

"So, when is your mission?" Sakura asked Hidan, swinging their hands. He eyed her curiously, "in about two weeks. You might be coming along, don't frikkin' forget that."

Sakura giggled, "that's true."

She was nervous about the mission, but she wouldn't admit that to Hidan. If they came across Kisame – and if by some miracle the shark-nin was still alive – he may not wish to switch to their side. The squad would either have to end up killing him, or they would have to force him to help them.

Sakura hoped, deep inside, that Kisame wasn't as bad as Mist shinobi made him out to be.

_'Maybe he's just brutal as a cover up... maybe he – maybe I should ask Hidan.'_

So she did, "hey Hidan. What was Kisame like?"

He stared at her as they walked into the mall where they would be meeting Hidan's squad, "why the sudden interest?"

"Well, if the squad does end up meeting him... what do you think he would do? Would he decide to help us out or would he... would he go against us?"

Hidan was silent for a moment; she tugged him toward a jewelry store so she could look into the window. While the admired the rings and earrings and necklaces he answered her, "it might take some convincing, but I think he'd join our side. I'd have to be the one who talks to him, though. Damn, that reminds me. I miss my old scythe."

Sakura laughed at this, "I think you can ask Tsunade-shishou to get you a tri-bladed one made."

"I don't wanna' ask her."

"I'll ask her for you."

"No freakin' way."

"Yes freakin' way."

"Hey, don't copy me."

"Hey, don't copy me."

"Sakura!"

"Saku – _DAMN IT!"_

Hidan laughed at her and she tried to slap him gently like a normal girl would slap her normal boyfriend. Hidan, however, did not count as normal and well... neither did Sakura's slap. She nearly slapped his head around three-sixty degrees.

"... thank you _so freaking much_."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Come over here. No – no, over here you silly goose. Sit. Good boy. Let me fix this."

"Augh my _neck..._ OW oh Kami that feels _so good... _mm..."

Sakura quirked an eyebrow and continued to massage Hidan's shoulders. Suddenly some blonde girl appeared and she fixed Sakura with a hard gaze. Sakura tensed immediately – this girl was trouble. She wrapped her arms around Hidan's neck from behind and spoke cautiously, "hello."

Before the girl could speak Hidan gestured toward her, "Sakura, Liadra. Liadra, Sakura."

Sakura could have sworn Liadra's face darkened before she smiled, "ah. So you're Hidan's girlfriend."

"Yes, I am," the pinkette replied dryly, eying the girl. She did not like how Liadra was looking at Hidan. She leaned down so she could whisper in his ear, "is she...?"

"In my squad? Yeah. I mean, we are eating out today as a group so... oh, here come the others."

Sakura straightened and looked – her jaw dropped open.

She hadn't expected Neji to be coming, nor did she expect Hakura. She had met the other Hyuuga one day when she and Hinata were training. Hakura had come and watched from the sides for a bit, before wandering off over to Neji who had been speaking with Tenten.

The young boy next to Hakura Sakura did not know. To her luck, Hidan introduced him first, "Sakura, the green-haired kid is Kono. Hakura mentioned that she'd met you before, and I'm pretty sure you know who Neji is."

Sakura laughed lightly at this and finally relinquished her hold on Hidan. Kono waved shyly at her and then ducked behind Hakura, making the girl laugh. Sakura eyed Liadra again, _'she better not try anything on _my_ man.'_

Hidan quickly jumped to his feet and looked sadly down at his side. Sakura quickly took her place next to him, his face brightening, "I am complete. Let's go."

Neji smiled at the two and led the way to the restaurant, Liadra walking stiffly by his side. Sakura wrapped her arm around Hidan's waist and his arm coiled around her shoulders.

"Don't be too freaking uncomfortable, Sakura. If she's smart she'll leave me the hell alone."

"She better," Sakura whispered fiercely, tightening her grip on Hidan. He squeezed her shoulders as they walked into the restaurant.

_'I hope this doesn't turn out to be a horrible experience. Neji, please, _please_ keep Liadra from doing something stupid.'_

And as if he could hear her, Neji glanced back, and smiled.

* * *

Though for all I hate this story, I must say, this is my favorite chapter right now. Next chapter is the awesome dinner, plus the packing up for the mission, so it should be longer. The rest will be action and crap and Akatsuki and finding the flower of epicness and Hakura's mysterious friend of DOOM.


	17. Chapter 17

Yeah, it's short, but it's longer than the last chapter by... 100 words.

Lol I updated. Like wow. Been forever hasn't it?

So, this will be moving quickly from now on. I skipped the dinner scene because I honestly didn't know what to have them do besides having Sakura and Liadra get into some kind of fist fight with each other over Hidan. Didn't spend anytime at all describing the fight scene that was supposed to be in this; will spend more time for the next fight.

As I said in VAMP, Naruto is loosing my interest in large gallons. Yes, that is the reason why I haven't been updating most of my stories lately.

**

* * *

Chapter 17: Gimme a break!**

"No."

"But -"

"No."

"... honestly, Hidan. You've been like this ever since the supper the team had together," the girl next to him complained. She attempted to wrap her arms around his neck but he pushed her away none too gently, _'maybe that's because you were a frikkin' bitch to my girlfriend?'_

Liadra glared up at him, "when did _she_ happen?"

"_Sakura_ happened shortly after I started talking again. What is your problem, Liadra? Seriously," he entered his apartment building and headed toward the stairs. Liadra followed him.

"She's my problem!"

"I gave you a damn good amount of hints! Why don't you fucking take one and leave me alone?!" he snapped, whirling to face her on the stairs. She blinked at him in surprise.

"Old habits die fucking hard," he sneered before continuing up the stairs more quickly than before. He heard her heels follow him up the stairs and once he got to his floor he stopped. Without turning he said, "you know I brought her because she's coming with us right?" there was silence in response, "well, now you know."

Hidan continued on to his apartment, leaving Liadra distraught in the stairwell.

--

Sakura stretched uncomfortably in her new uniform. Tsunade was letting her borrow an ANBU uniform for the mission – Sakura really hated it, despite having Hidan tell her that she looked stunning and made him want to "rip her apart". She giggled when she remembered his mock-frustration expression when she told him he would have to wait until marriage.

Sakura exhaled then, bringing back up the word "marriage".

_'And I wanted to know why he'd frozen up like that and looked at me funny... to think I'd actually mention it -'_

_**'We're an item, I tell you! Of course you mentioned it! He's the bomb, and we're gonna' marry him!'**_ Inner Sakura exclaimed, punching a fist in the air. Sakura bashed her head against the nearest tree.

_'You are _really_ beginning to get on my nerves...'_

Inner Sakura lapsed into silence, allowing Sakura to think properly again. She quickly made her way toward Konoha's gates, checking and re-checking her pack to make sure she had everything. To her dismay the first person there from the squad was Liadra, instead of Neji like Sakura had hoped.

_'Or Hidan, but that's besides the point... hopefully we don't tear each other to pieces.'_

"Good morning, Liadra," Sakura greeted pleasantly. The other woman made an effort to return the greeting, "good morning, Sakura."

"I hope you're well?"

Sakura cringed when she saw Liadra's "I-know-you're-just-trying-to-be-nice" expression. The other woman sneered, "I'm doing well, Sakura. How might you be? Anything interesting happen recently?"

Sakura scowled and crossed her arms, "if you're referring to something happening between Hidan and I, no, nothing happened at all."

Liadra was about to say something more when Kono showed up, followed by Hakura, who had Neji in tow, who was yelling at Hidan to hurry up. Sakura stared at them for a moment before bursting into laughter. Hidan came up behind her and rested his chin on her head, "hey, baby."

"Hey," she replied, stroking his hair. He nuzzled her head before adjusting his mask over his face and nodding at Neji. Sakura blinked at the ANBU team, then shook her head, _'I can't expect them to keep their masks off around me. It's bad enough already that I know who they are...'_

Neji made the signal and the group headed off, making their way toward the meeting point where they would be introduced to Hakura's "strange friend".

--

"You know what you have to do, all of you. Now go do it!"

In a flurry of wind everyone of the black-cloaked, red-clouded shinobi burst out of the room. Only two remained behind; the one in charge and the only one left.

"I'm surprised you lasted longer than Itachi."

"So am I."

A woman emerged from the shadows, "leader-sama, it's time."

The man in the huge device somehow scraped his way toward her. Before the two of them left the room ringed eyes focused on the last member.

"You have your orders. I expect a lot from you. Do not fail me, Kisame."

"Hai."

--

Hidan listened intently to his surroundings before finally resting his scythe on his back again.

"Is that all?"

"They didn't prove much of a challenge."

"The fact that the new Akatsuki is after us is bad enough, but these guys... this isn't some kind of fucking game we're playing here!" Hidan exclaimed, furious at the leader – whoever it was now – that actually let these people get sacrificed for no good reason at all.

"He's being a bastard, whoever it is that sent these kids straight to their deaths."

Hidan glanced at Sakura to see that she was cradling one girl that had long white hair. He sighed – the hair length reminded him of what he'd been like when he'd first gotten out of that cursed hole.

"Sakura," she jerked her head up when Neji called her, "let's go. We can't dawdle here. Hakura says that her friend won't wait very long for us before he continues to the mountain alone."

Sakura frowned but got up anyway. They quickly went on their way, being careful to avoid all the encounters they possibly could.

_'Neji and Hakura are making dodging people so frikkin' easy it ain't funny... gees...'_

Suddenly there was a flicker of a huge chakra signature to Hidan's left before it dissipated. He stopped immediately, "what the - ?"

"Hidan? What is it?" Neji inquired, stopping on a branch not far ahead. The others stopped as well, all looking around to see if they could find the source of Hidan's sudden discomfort. Without saying a word Hidan quickly leapt forward until he came to an opening. To his right was the direction they were supposed to be going to meet Hakura's friend; up ahead Hidan could see a large, shadowy figure making their way toward the squad. He held up a hand, his lower lip quivering.

"Hidan? Hidan, what's going on why -"

"Neji."

The Hyuuga fell silent.

"It's Kisame."

* * *

Ooooh yay. A small kinda' cliff-hanger thing. Kisame makes his appearance - but what will be his choice?

Until next time.


	18. Chapter 18

This might be the last fight scene, unless I feel like showing how Siah fights. Yeah. Anyway.

Because of one of my friend's stories, the ending of Finally will be changing. However, I will post it as a stand-alone, so that this ending isn't ruined :) don't worry. The reason why Finally's ending is going to be changed is because I found out that Finally is like the prequel to my friend Versatz fiction about the new Naruto generation. And the pairings are all the same :O Except for the Hidan and Sakura one. Which is why the ending is changing.

Anyway, more info on that later. Right now, enjoy Finally and my (fail)fight scene.

**

* * *

Chapter 18: Wrath.**

Hidan could not find his breath. Staring at Kisame from across the open field, an obstacle in the way to their destination, was not how Hidan wanted their meeting to be. He would much rather it be in a bar over sake than be on a mission where they would be forced to fight. Hidan did his best to observe Kisame from the large distance.

His stance was calm, cool and relaxed. He wasn't worried about the fact that he was facing off against five ANBU and a medic. Hidan didn't like that one bit. It meant trouble for the whole group if Kisame, on his lonesome, wasn't even unnerved at their presence.

Something else Hidan noticed was the difference in Kisame's attire to that of the other Akatsuki.

_'It has been a long time, hasn't it?'_

Kisame's cloak was only clasped together at the top; the bottom was left to flare open. He held Samehada's hilt loosely in one hand, obviously judging whether it would be a better choice for him to attack first or to let the ANBU attack first. Hidan glanced at Neji, waiting for his analysis.

"... it looks like he's trying to find a way to avoid us, from the looseness of his stance."

Hidan blinked and did a double take, then agreed with Neji. The Hyuuga looked to Liadra.

"I agree with you. If we were actually his target we would be duking it out right now in the center of this huge clearing – or over here."

_'Ah. So that's what she's useful for. Analyzing situations,'_ his eyes drifted to Sakura and he almost burst out laughing. She must have been feeling pretty useless at this point.

Hidan took a deep breath.

Kisame didn't know that he was one of the ANBU, which gave them the upper hand. However, Hidan knew just how powerful Kisame really was, and that a single, well-aimed Water Technique would take down the entire squad – save for Hidan.

He had to convert the shark nin to their side, and steal him from the Akatsuki.

Hidan was left with only one choice: he had to face Kisame in a one-on-one fight, in the middle of the clearing. He reached for his ANBU mask.

"Neji."

The Hyuuga looked at him.

"I'm breaking protocol."

"Hidan don't you _dare_ take that off you understand?"

"I have to frikkin' fight him alone! I know you've taken him on before and all, but that was, what, _eight fucking years ago?_"

Neji glared at him through the eye slits in his mask. Hidan glared back, hand still on his mask.

"I'm the only one in this group that can fight him," he pulled the mask to the side so it rested against his head. Kisame instantly drew Samehada and started walking toward them, knowing that a fight was unavoidable now that Hidan had revealed himself.

"And I'm the only one who can fucking convince him to join our side."

Hidan charged, his scythe in his right hand. Kisame matched his pace and they clashed in the middle of the battlefield. Hidan cringed.

Kisame was nearly twice his size _and_ had huge muscles to back up his strength. It was going to be impossible to tire the shark out. He had to... pin him down somehow.

They exchanged several blows, and again and again Hidan was pushed back. He blocked a downward swing from Kisame with the staff of his scythe but the force of Kisame's blow caused Hidan to drop to one knee. He struggled against Kisame's strength.

"I never really entertained the idea that I would ever see you again, kid."

Hidan grit his teeth. He funneled chakra into his feet like Sakura had taught him and burst forward with all his might, causing Kisame to stumble back. Hidan violently swung his scythe from left to right, Kisame dodging most of the blows. The immortal brought his scythe up then sharply down. The tip of the blade caught the end of Kisame's cloak and ripped off some of the fabric.

The shark nin made a beeline straight for Liadra; obviously he knew who the weakest one in the group was. Hidan whirled quickly and raced after him. He watched in near horror as Sakura, fist green with chakra, bravely placed herself in front of Liadra.

_'OH SHIT!'_

Hidan quickly began to skid as Kisame switched his target to him again, his lips twitching up at one side. Hidan deflected his blow and dodged the downwards thrust. He rolled to his left and went at Kisame's side, aiming a punch for his stomach.

Kisame blocked him by wrapping a hand around Hidan's fist.

_'Damn, his hands are _huge...'

Kisame threw him into the air and Hidan flipped forward, slamming his left hand against the ground and effectively breaking it. He bit his tongue to hold back a curse and focused on dodging Kisame's next attack instead.

Hidan knew he could use his binding technique, but that was hardly fair. Instead he held his scythe out defensively in front of him, his breathing heavy. Kisame idly twirled Samehada in his right hand before deciding to charge Hidan again. Hidan tossed his scythe to the side and ducked the attack. He rammed his head into Kisame's rock hard chest, wrapped a leg around one of his to trip him and put his weight into holding Kisame down.

"Damn, I taught you that one didn't I?"

"Sure did."

"Guess I'll have to get you off then."

Hidan, not exactly wanting to risk getting something else broken, rolled off of Kisame and flipped over to the shark's weapon instead. He grabbed it by the hilt and flung it with all his strength into the nearest tree. Then he picked up his scythe, knowing that the animated blade wouldn't stay in it's prison forever. Kisame's eyes narrowed dangerously at Hidan and they circled each other. Hidan glanced at Sakura – she looked panicked. Now would be the best time to try and convince Kisame to ditch the Akatsuki.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Kisame."

"Gonna' talk to me, are ya kid?"

Hidan bit his lip, _'I know he still cares about from the way he's looking at my hand so guiltily, but it's already healing,'_ he flexed his hand to make sure it _was_ really healing. It obeyed his command.

"I didn't think I'd see you again either, seriously. I was in a God forsaken hole for eight years. Honestly I never knew you would have lasted this long."

"I thought I would have died before Itachi did."

Hidan dashed at Kisame, forcing him away from his weapon. Kisame growled in response.

"You aren't near water so I'm gonna' try and fucking keep my upper hand while I can, thanks."

At this Kisame chuckled. Hidan chanced a glance at Neji, who had dropped down from his tree branch and was keeping a watchful eye on the twitching Samehada.

_'I've got a time limit damn it all.'_

Hidan decided to tell Kisame what they were doing – it was just as well that Kisame was one of the only people that would be able to find what they were looking for when they got to the mountain.

"Kisame. I'm not a Jashinist anymore," Kisame stopped stalking and tilted his head, listening like he always did. Hidan took a breath before continuing, "as a result I can get fatally sick at any given time. So far I've gotten a shitty fever twice. The second time I felt like I was gonna' die. You're one of two people that can find the flower we have to get to cure my ailment. If I don't get cured from it... I'm as good as dead."

He waited apprehensively while Kisame chewed the information and digested it. The older man's face creased as he thought and then in an almost defeated voice that made Hidan want to bear hug him right there he said, "you are so damn lucky you're like a little brother to me, kid."

Neji piped up, "does that mean you're on our side, Kisame?"

"Hell yes. I'd ditch life for this pup," Kisame replied, affectionately tousling Hidan's hair as he walked by. Neji eased away from Samehada as Kisame gripped the hilt and ripped it out of the tree. Bark flew everywhere.

"You kids are lucky he's with you. Otherwise you'd be bodies on the ground right now."

"I have no doubt of that, Kisame-san. No doubt of that _at all._"

Kisame laughed at Neji's expression.

--

"So what was your mission anyway, you old fart?"

Sakura giggled at Hidan's nickname for Kisame. Likewise she giggled whenever Kisame referred to Hidan as a smart aleck – when she had asked him earlier why he didn't refer to Hidan as a "wise ass" Kisame had replied "because wise ass isn't something I would say".

Kisame's face darkened and he replied stoically, "classified. I'm not going to be telling anybody anytime soon."

"Why not?" Hakura asked. Kisame's eyes widened briefly when he noticed just how close Hakura was to him, "simply because I don't want you guys having any clue as to how powerful I really am."

"Oh," she breathed and asked no further questions. Instead she blushed under his gaze and looked up at the stars with her pupil-less lavender eyes. At that moment Hakura really reminded Sakura of Hinata.

_'I can't believe she has a crush on him already... and on Kisame no less! But he is an interesting character, with a nice personality... and he ditched the Akatsuki for us.'_

_**'Ahem, I have this strange urge to correct you. Kisame ditched the Akatsuki for **_**Hidan****_ not us.'_**

_'You're right. He ditched the Akatsuki for Hidan. Now leave me alone.'_

Inner Sakura sighed sadly before returning to her corner. She glanced at Liadra out of the corner of her eye; the girl was softly singing to Kono, who wasn't exactly used to being outside and far away from Konoha at the same time.

"That little bugger is seriously attached," Hidan's voice was suddenly next to Sakura's ear. She jumped a little and turned her head to glare at him.

"Kono is not -"

"I wasn't talking about Kono. Why would I call Kono a little bugger?" he sighed and sat down next to her, leaning his head against her shoulder, "I was talking about someone else..."

"... well, Kisame isn't exactly little."

Hidan laughed softly, "knew you'd figure it out. He likes Hakura already."

Sakura turned her emerald eyes back to Kisame and Hakura. The Hyuuga was resting against Kisame's side, her cheeks brushed with red. Kisame was leaning against a tree – the oak with blue leaves where they would be meeting Hakura's friend.

Just when they were beginning to lapse into light sleep, an eerie voice penetrated the area, "Hakura..."

Kisame nearly attacked the mostly bandaged man coming out of the tree, but he stopped himself. He looked at Hidan, "I'm assuming this is the character you guys are waiting for?"

"Yes," Hakura replied, a gentle smile touching her lips. She rose and lightly hugged the man in the tree, "Siah. I'm glad you could make it."

The man with the bandages nodded. Sakura hoped he would look at her soon and when he did her eyes widened.

Most of his face was covered by bandages. Only one eye was visible, the other under the wraps. Jagged black hair poked out from the front of the wraps, and a mask similar to the one Kakashi wore was covering his mouth. His visible eye was a pale green, with no pupil.

He observed her as well, ghostly eye calculating almost. His eye drifted over to Neji, and then Liadra, and finally Kono who was staring at him with an expression that was a mix between horror and fascination. Sakura wondered why he hadn't looked at Hidan yet, and why Hidan was yet to look at him. He emerged from the tree.

His outfit had several metal plates on it, and on his right arm he wore his hitai-ate – he was a missing nin from rain.

_'Rain?'_ Sakura thought that strange. And a missing nin too, _'maybe he's just wearing it so people will assume he's a shinobi...'_

Instead of a kunai pouch he had kunai straps: three on each thigh. Sakura realized that the wraps around his head weren't bandages, and that the mask wasn't a mask, but that they were all part of an odd looking scarf. It looked like it was made out of wood, not material.

_'He uses the wood element? I thought only Yamato and Kono could use the wood element...'_

She squinted at his right arm again, and right above the long ANBU glove he wore was an ANBU tattoo – or so it seemed. The tattoo had an extra swirl emerging from the bottom swirl. Finally she noticed the choker.

And wanted to protect Hakura.

--

Hidan knew who it was without even having to open his eyes. He hadn't thought, however, that this particular Jashinist would last so long.

"... it's been a while, Siah."

"It has been, Hidan-san."

Hidan opened his eyes and smirked when he saw the choker, "still liking the choker, eh? Thought you would have changed it by now."

Siah's lone eye crinkled at the edges, "I would have, had I the time. I've been on the run mostly, Hidan-san."

"They tried to kill you, didn't they?"

Siah was quiet at this and the other's were looking between the two; even Hakura was surprised.

"Yes. But Hidan-san was kind enough to give Siah the gift. It saved me."

Hidan smirked and stood, "so, where's the blade?"

Siah gestured to his scarf, "all around me."

"Good, good... why are you guys looking at us so weirdly, seriously?"

"Siah you... never told me you knew Hidan."

"Nor did you tell me that you knew him."

Hakura smiled, "that's true," she tapped the choker, which – upon closer inspection – Hidan could see had been modified. The circle with the upside-down triangle was more prominent, and better chiseled.

"You did work on that, didn't you?"

"Of course, Hidan-san. I am to understand that you are in need of finding the flower," his pale green eye flashed and Hidan was immediately uneasy. Siah's eye widened briefly and he began teleporting away and up the mountain.

"We must hurry. There isn't much time left."

* * *

I hope that Siah's last words don't seem like a cliff-hanger :/ If they do, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen.


	19. Chapter 19

Yeah, so shoot me. Here's chapter 19. Two more chapters and I am DONE. Sorry if this seems a little snappy, but I'm just getting excited about having my ability to write back :) So yeah. I hope to have the next two chapters up ASAP.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Inconceivable.**

Sakura collapsed. Siah had finally allowed the group the chance to rest, and she briefly envied the way Hidan, Kisame and Hakura managed to keep up with the worried Jashinist. Even Neji was winded – but then again, he _did_ get stuck with carrying a fainted Liadra.

_'She just had to go and faint... ugh...'_ Sakura complained inwardly. She looked ahead of her, where Hidan and the other three stood talking. Hakura had placed herself somewhat inconspicuously by Kisame's side. Siah's body was facing Sakura as he listened to whatever Hidan was saying. Kisame nodded his head, indicating agreement. Hakura removed herself from Kisame's side and approached Neji.

"Nii-san. We have to continue. Siah's worried that Hidan's fever may come back before we can get the flowers."

Sakura's jaw dropped, _'h-his fever might...'_

"Come back?" she squeaked out. Hakura understood what she meant and nodded her head, "yes. Considering the fact that Hidan's fever has already come back twice, the third time will be the worst. To make matters worse -" Kisame whistled. Hakura looked over her shoulder before finishing her warning, "- we need three flowers. We only have two people who can find them."

Inner Sakura threw a tantrum while Sakura's knees shook with the realization that the third time had the highest chance of killing Hidan. Especially if she wasn't there to heal him.

She forced herself to get onto her feet. They had no time to dawdle anymore. Neji huffed and hefted Liadra onto his back again. Kono frowned and summoned a tiger made of wood.

"Neji-san, please put Liadra on the tiger. It can carry her and you can better keep up with them," Kono instructed. Neji released a sigh of relief and placed Liadra gently on the tiger's back. Snake-like tree roots coiled tightly around her, securing her in place. The group set off swiftly.

Twenty minutes later – Siah was getting excited because they had almost reached the top of the mountain – they came across a group of rogue shinobi. Kisame, in order to get to them, scaled the side of the mountain at a gravity defying angle, Samehada in hand. One of the rogues above noticed him, and they clashed when Kisame was almost at the top. The sword in the rogue's hands suddenly screamed; the sound had no effect on Kisame, but Kono's tiger nearly went berserk.

Sakura pushed chakra into her legs and rushed up the path, passing Hakura. The Hyuuga called out, "two rogues at ten o'clock!"

_'Focus chakra into my hand, and let my fist FLY!'_

Sakura's empowered fist connected solidly with one rogue's face. The second rogue, however, was no where in sight. Siah and Hidan hurried past her, though the look on Hidan's face told Sakura that he really wanted to stay by her side. She stared after him before returning to worry about the missing rogue. Hakura was looking around confusedly, Neji at her back, both of them in their Jyuken stances.

"Sakura!"

"Hai!"

"Help Kono with that tiger!"

"Hai!" back down the path Sakura went. The sounds of metal on Samehada's bandages sounded from above; Sakura tried to hear over the noise to make sure no other rogue came down the mountainside.

She found Kono – red faced and huffing – struggling to keep the terrified tiger under control. She grabbed it's face and he thanked her quietly before quickly backing off and making some seals.

_'Thank Kami Liadra's lashed to it's back. It would have thrown her already otherwise.'_

Kono, his technique complete, slammed his hand into the ground. The tiger stopped its struggling, switched its tail and leapt powerfully out of Sakura's hands. She yelped as it roared angrily, wooden claws slashing a rogue shinobi in half.

Sakura put her hands back to stop herself. Her eyes widened.

There was nothing for her hands to land on.

"_Sakura!_" she heard Hakura cry out.

Sakura closed her eyes tightly and waited for her stomach to go to her mouth, the signal that she was falling.

Instead something rough and calloused grabbed her wrist and swung around in a circle to move her upwards. Her savior yelled, "since when did kunoichi close their damn eyes?!"

Her eyes shot open, _'Kisame!'_ and she immediately slammed her fist into the gut of a rogue that was stupid enough to think she wouldn't open her eyes.

Her feet landed safely on solid ground and she grasped Kisame's forearm. She pulled him back up over the ledge to ensure that he didn't fall.

He glared at her briefly and growled, "don't let me catch you closing your eyes _ever_ again."

She bowed her head in shame at forgetting such a simple rule, one she had learned from Tsunade, "hai, Kisame-san."

He sighed and swung Samehada back into its proper place on his back, "two of them were quick. They fled as soon as they saw how much trouble the others were having. I'll stay at the back and guard. Let's get moving; who knows how far ahead Siah and Hidan have gotten."

They raced up the path. Sakura prayed that nothing foul had befallen the two. Her gut demanded that she not think so optimistically.

--

"Jashin curse it all! Where are they?!" Siah demanded loudly. He glared out from behind the tree he had chosen to stop at. His bones hurt, and so did his stitches. He'd already removed his scarf, and it snapped in the wind, not a care in the world. Siah briefly wished he could be like his scarf, with nothing to worry about and no one to worry over. Although he did like knowing that he was needed.

He allowed himself only a few seconds more to fret over where the heck the other shinobi were, before he worriedly turned his attention back to the wheezing figure beside next to him, his hands glowing a sickly green.

--

"I can sense them at that tree. They're both resting," Liadra said; she had finally woken up. Kisame's brow furrowed and he surged past them. Sakura stared after him, confused. He skidded to a halt next to the tree and cursed loudly. Then he sprinted forward.

"K-Kisame!?" Hakura cried, going after him. She was stopped by Siah, "you _have_ to stay here!"

There was a frantic look in his eye that Sakura did not like. As she came to a stop she feared the worst.

_'... no. No no no no NO!'_

She dropped to her knees, "Hidan? HIDAN?! Hidan can you hear me? Talk to me, please Hidan!"

His response was continued ragged breathing. A thin line of blood flowed steadily out of his mouth. Healing chakra pulsed around her hand but just when she would have set to healing him Siah's hands stopped her.

"Sakura I've used a forbidden technique on him. If you heal him, you'll undo it, and he'll die. The third time the fever comes around you can't heal it. The Hyuugas will stay here. They need to watch his chakra. I've given Hakura the utensils she'll need to mill the flowers when we get them here. I already have a teapot on boil over the fire. You. Are. Coming. With. _Me._"

She whipped around, furious, "you expect me to just leave him here while this fever is raging in his system and come with you to find flowers?! Do you really -"

He cut her off by slapping her, "are you the Jashinist?"

She stared at him, eyes wide. He questioned her again, "do you honestly think you know more about this fever than I do? I know what I'm _doing_ Sakura. You have no choice but to trust me. The longer we dawdle here the closer Hidan's chances are to dieing. Kono and Liadra have already gone off. I need you to come with me _now_."

Her lips quivered. She wasn't going to take orders from this boy, she just wasn't -

"Sakura. As the ANBU captain, I order you to go."

She stared at Neji. His face was hard, his byakugen activated. Sakura glanced at Hakura. The girl was staring at Hidan intensely, a syringe in one hand, ready to transfer some of her chakra to Hidan if need be.

She went with Siah.

* * *

And Siah basically takes control of everything.


	20. Chapter 20

Yay for chapter 20 getting up in three days!

Oh, and someone mentioned that Sakura was being the weak link. Correction: Liadra is the weak link, and Sakura was just being good old stubborn Sakura. And a medic. That is all. Next chapter is the last one.

* * *

**Chapter 20: Fields of Poppies.**

Siah let Sakura take in the fact that the particular flowers they were looking for were identical to the poppies in the fields in front of them. Sakura took several breaths to calm herself. Her eyes scoured the field: Kisame was far, _far_ to the left and Kono and Liadra were hunting to the right. Liadra looked like she was going to faint again. Sakura turned to Siah, "are you telling me, that we're looking for flowers that are identical to the ones here? Shouldn't there be something a little different about them? Maybe darker petals, pink cente-"

"Sakura. They are perfectly identical."

The pinkette breathed in deeply, _'okay, Sakura. Let's do this. We need to do it with Siah, we need to find the flowers, and we need to get them back to Hidan. The flowers are top priority right now. Go. Find. The. Flowers.'_

"Alright Siah. Let's go. We don't have much time right?"

He appeared to be smiling at her, "I knew you'd come around."

Sakura smiled at him and they headed forward. Kisame passed by behind them without a word, a flower in his hand. Looking more closely at it made Sakura's stomach shrink; it looked exactly like a poppy.

Siah got down on his hands and knees and began looking at the stems of the poppies. Sakura stood next to him for a moment, then dropped down next to him and asked, "um, Siah... if you're one of the only people who can find this flower, how exactly do I help you?"

His fingers twitched, "I'd never thought about that. I suppose the only difference between the poppies and the flowers we're looking for is that the earth around the ones we seek is... how should I say... it looks sparkly."

"Sparkly?"

"Like glitter. In the sun. The ground shines," he honed in on one flower and separated the poppies around it. He stared intently at it, and when the area didn't sparkle, he sought out a different one. Sakura mimicked him.

_'It'll be harder for me. What if I miss the flower because I decide not to check a certain bunch? There's _got_ to be some other way to find this thing!'_

A frustrated cry from the left told Sakura that it was not an easy flower to find. A blue foot suddenly stepped down in front of her. She looked up and up and up and up at Kisame, "how long did it take you to find it?"

"Not long, actually. I spent the last hour looking for another one, but it seems they're all in different areas. Plus with this wind..." he stuck his nose in the air and sniffed, "I can't smell it out."

"So it has a specific smell?!"

"Yeah but only my nose is sensitive to it," he laughed out, pointing at his nose. Sakura frowned, "and why are only you sensitive to it?"

He winked at her, "classified," then he walked away. Over his shoulder he called, "Kono wants to try something, so come over here and help me with Liadra. I think the sun is bad for her."

Sakura stared after him for a moment, confused.

_'Isn't he worried?'_ she separated the poppies around one more flower before finally giving up. She stood to find that Siah had given up as well, and that he was already jogging over to the other three. Sakura hurried to catch up.

"I'm going to try and see if I can call out to the flowers. Pay attention, and look out for any intense glowing you see. I think the flowers can move very quickly into the ground..." Kono explained while Sakura healed Liadra a bit. The girl scooted away from her as soon as she opened her eyes, making Sakura cringe.

_**'She reeeeally doesn't like us.'**_

For once, Sakura was compelled to agree with her inner self, _'that's just because I have what she wants.'_

Kisame tapped her on the shoulder and she faced the fields, waiting for Kono to call out to the flowers.

"As soon as you see glowing," he huffed, concentrating his chakra into his fists, "you _run_ as fast as you can. We already have one flower so... Sakura you can -"

"She's faster than me," Siah interrupted, glancing at her, "she'll get to the flower more quickly."

Kono must have nodded his head, because he blew into his hand and a song came out. Kisame's eyes were darting all over the fields. Sakura paid great heed to the area in front of her. Kisame shot off like a rocket further to the left before diving head first for a section of plants. Though she was tempted to watch him for longer she forced herself to look at her area.

"Sakura! Go! Straight ahead!"

She trusted Siah's intuition and leapt forward, pounding the ground – and unfortunately the poppies – with her feet. Ahead of her, near a copse of trees, she could see shimmering begin. She forced her legs to move fasted and copied Kisame's idea of leaping into the poppies. As she landed she saw a beam of light shining down on a single flower.

Then the flower started to shake, as if it was preparing to move.

"OH HELL NO YOU DON'T!" Sakura shrieked, her hands shooting out in front of her. She latched onto the flower and pulled lightly. It easily came out of the ground.

"Sakura let's move!" Kisame called to her. She whipped around while on the ground, the flower safely in her hands, and pushed up into a run. The others had already begun the hour run back, Liadra in the lead.

As they pounded down the trail they had come up Sakura couldn't help fearing the worst. She shook her head to dispel the thoughts as she finally caught up with Siah, who was at the back.

_'Stop it Sakura! Stop thinking that he's going to die! Neji and Hakura will keep him alive.'_

The Jashinist fell back a bit more before he tunneled into the ground. Sakura stared at where he had been in momentary disbelief before she looked back to the front.

Her eyes widened.

Kisame cursed and handed his flower to Kono, who in turn fell back next to Sakura, followed by a reluctant Liadra. Siah burst out of the earth a moment later, drilling into the wall of rogue shinobi in front of them. Kisame violently shredded them with his sword.

"Kono, here," Sakura said, giving her flower to the young boy, "go, quickly. Hidan needs those asap."

Kono nodded at her and made the hand seals to summon his wooden tiger on the move. He clapped his hand onto the nearest tree and the tiger leapt out of it to gallop ahead of him. He hopped expertly onto its back and yanked Liadra on behind him.

Sakura hurried back to help Kisame and Siah. She kicked a man in the back, listening as his spine snapped. Out went her fist, effectively slamming two shinobi into each other. As she spun to avoid getting slashed Kisame's back bumped against hers. She reveled in the safety she felt with him behind her.

"Sakura! Kisame! _Don't move!_" Siah called over the ruckus the rogues were making. Sakura looked at him and wished she hadn't.

Because where he was standing was a blood-red monster, with wings that looked like spikes protruding from it's back, eyes that were sewed shut and gigantic hands and feet that looked like they belonged more on a lion.

Around her black spikes flew up, and suddenly she found herself being hugged very closely to Kisame. She latched onto the front of his shirt, shaking at the sounds of the screams of rogues that tried to dodge and had had their legs or arms ripped off as a reward.

"Sakura don't you fucking dare look. Just don't look," Kisame whispered to her. She nodded her head against his chest, thankful that she'd sent Kono and Liadra off. The boy would never be able to sleep and Liadra would probably faint.

_'The sun is what does it to her I'll bet,_' she thought to herself, trying and failing to ignore the wretched screams and Siah's chanting. Three minutes later and it was all over. She breathed a sigh of relief and was about to pull away from Kisame when he hoisted her up in his arms. Her eyes shot open but he covered them with his hand.

"Didn't I tell you not to look?"

She bit her lip, "I-I thuoght you only meant during the technique. Is it that bad."

"... yes."

"Kisame, go on ahead with Sakura. I'll finish what's left of them," Sakura shivered at the haunting sound Siah's voice had taken on. Kisame burst forward, back down the winding trial they had taken up. He removed his hand from her eyes but didn't put her down until they got to the tree.

She rushed over to the wheezing Hidan, and stared at him hard. Kono was fretting over the teapot over the fire and Liadra was resting in the tree, in the shade, out of the sun.

_'Yep, the sun is definitely what makes her faint,_' Sakura concluded. She shook her head. The woman wasn't even an albino.

She focused her attention back on Hidan. He looked sickly, and it wasn't that he was paper white, but that he was a pale green color. Sakura swallowed thickly, the urge to heal him, to get rid of that sickly color, almost too much to bear.

"Focus, medic. Focus. You heal him, you cancel the effects of Siah's forbidden technique and Hidan's chances of living decrease," Neji commanded her softly, wisely choosing to call her 'medic'.

She took a deep breath and sat back on her heels, to wait for the tea to finish simmering and for Siah to arrive.

To her, it was going to be a long wait.

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After I'm done this, I'm back to working on MLMD, which is on temporary hiatus.


	21. Chapter 21

What a strange, long trip it's been. I hope you guys enjoy this last chapter of Finally. For those of you that wanted to know more about my friend's story well.. you'll have to wait until he submits chapter 1 and I put up Finally's alternate ending. Which won't make HidaSaku fans happy D:

Enjoy!

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Chapter 21: Take it from here.**

When Sakura opened her eyes, it was darker outside. She had been unaware that she'd fallen asleep, and the memories of the reason why she had fallen asleep came rushing back.

She panicked and was about to go search for Hidan – she couldn't remember what had happened to him, because she'd fallen asleep before Siah got back. She remembered Neji saying something about exhaustion and Liadra had scoffed at it before Neji informed her that she herself had fainted three times. That had made the woman shut up.

Sakura froze as something behind her shifted.

"Sakura, I'm right here behind you."

She whirled, "Hidan!" her arms went around his neck. He laughed softly into her hair, gently wrapping his arms around her. They hugged each other for a while, Sakura taking note of how weakly he held her in his arms. She rested her hands against his shoulders and pushed back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better... not one hundred percent though. I suppose I should fill you in on what we discussed while you were asleep."

Sakura frowned, "you guys just let me sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" inwardly she said, _'I'm tired of seeming so useless to everyone that I love so much.'_

"Siah made us. Neji wanted to wake you up but Siah nearly blew a fit. The only reason he didn't was because he was afraid his yelling and ranting would wake you up."

Sakura smiled, "is ranting a Jashinist thing?"

Hidan returned her smile, "kind of."

"Well, tell me what you guys discussed."

"Alright. When the sun rises Kono will be heading back to Konoha to inform Tsunade-sama that we've picked up Kisame who is now an ex-Akatsuki member. Because of him, I'm alive. Also, Kono will be telling her that we're going to take our time going down the mountain. This is because of me and my condition. I can hardly move."

Sakura's smile faltered, "explains why you weren't hugging me so tightly," she gazed at his face, "and why you look so tired."

Hidan chuckled, "yeah. Oh, I bet you're wondering in the back of your mind if Siah is alright. He's perfectly fine. Except for maybe being covered in blood. He and Kisame went to scout out a pool or something."

"Oh... but... is it a wise choice to send Kono all by himself?"

"Sakura, he can merge with trees. His elements wood remember?"

She blushed in embarrassment, "y-yeah that's true. Continue."

"Once I'm able to move more easily again we'll be moving more quickly. That's about all we discussed. We did talk some about the possibility of more rogue shinobi showing up, but Neji believes that with Kisame and Siah they'll be no match for us."

Sakura nodded her head, then was struck with a thought. Hidan hadn't mentioned that the ANBU squad had also picked up Siah.

"What about Siah?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, it's pretty obvious that Kisame is coming back to Konoha with us but what about Siah? Isn't he coming too?"

"... no, Sakura, he's not. He... he doesn't want to endanger anyone. He doesn't want to put Konoha in harms way. See, when he met Hakura the first time he was running from Jashinists. She covered his back and almost got herself killed. Due to that, he was forced to use a forbidden technique on her or let her die."

"But there's no signs that a forbidden technique was -"

"That's because she wears a shirt all the time, Sakura. I mean, I can see it but that's because I was a Jashinist..." he squinted into the distance, "'cept I can't really see it anymore. I bet if she went to the beach she would be wearing a one-piece and a shirt," he smiled at Sakura.

"So the mark is on her back?"

"Yeah... Siah took care of her for a while, and once she was better he left her in a place where he knew ANBU from Konoha passed by. He stayed with her until he could sense the chakra of approaching shinobi, and then he left. Even though she had begged him the entire trek from where he had taken her to Fire country to come with her to Konoha."

"And he refused? But why would he? We can protect him from Jashinists!"

"... you have no idea what kind of Jashinists we'd be dealing with."

Sakura's blood went cold. She thought about the technique that Siah had used, causing all those black spikes to come shooting out of the ground, "what do you mean?"

Hidan leaned his head back against the tree. Sakura panicked, "ah-ah you don't need to tell me if you're tired! I'm just curious as to who could be more powerful than -"

"I'm... not precisely _tired_ Sakura... it's just that I'd have to explain the entire power pyramid of the Jashinists to explain to you why we can't protect Siah. And why he's better of on his own."

"Tell me why he's better off alone first."

"He's one person. They don't need to send ten Jashinists after him unless he's with more people. The more people Siah has to protect the more powerful he gets."

"Then it _would _be better if he came with us," Sakura informed him, triumphant. She was definite that Hidan couldn't counter that. Hidan chuckled and shook his head at her, "Sakura... if they know he's not alone, do you think they'll send people that weak?"

Her eyes widened, "huh?"

"They'd send people like Damien or Jump or... or Syliss, if he's still alive. Those people... just the three of them could destroy Konoha and then some. Or worse. And if we're talking about the power pyramid," he scratched in the ground with his finger, drawing a large triangle separated into six sections, "those three are at the top."

Sakura swallowed, "what about you? Where were you?"

"Me? I was at the top too. When I joined the Akatsuki I asked them to strip me of most of my power, so I dropped down to the second-last level."

"Why'd you ask them to do that?"

"The Akatsuki really didn't need to know that I can just... track and catch Bijuu no problem. I can't do that anymore. No longer a Jashinists, stripped of my power... left to rediscover how to use my old techniques," he smiled at her, "don't look so worried. My old techniques are formidable."

Sakura sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, "so we'll be heading down tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Back to Konoha."

"Yeah..."

"Kono goes before us... Kisame's coming with us... Siah's leaving us... and," she pressed her lips to his chin, "you swear less when you're tired."

His chest vibrated with his laughter, "that's true. I do swear less when I'm tired. Or maybe it's because I'm talking to you," he wrapped his arm's around her, his embrace a little tighter than before.

Sakura, though she wanted to ask why no Jashinists had been sent after Siah since he'd joined them, decided to let Hidan sleep. He was weak, and the rest would do him good.

She watched the sun rise from under Hidan's chin, waiting to return home.

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Oh, but what's this? Why does it seem like I've given some new information that I didn't sort out?

Perhaps I have something else up my sleeve...


	22. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay, I've been noticing that some people are still, for some odd reason, adding this story to their alerts and/or are "eagerly looking forward to the **next chapter**".

"Finally" is over, done, finished, complete, _**ended**_. There will be no next chapter.

There will not be a sequel. I'm struggling with my sequel to "Innocence" already.

I am aware that at the beginning of chapter 21 I mentioned something about me and my friends writing a massive story.

Unfortunately _all three of us have lost significant amounts of interest in Naruto,_ and therefore none of us are going to be writing our huge massive project stories.

I apologize for any misunderstandings, but please be understanding to the fact that I pretty much have lost most if not **all** my interest in Naruto.

=(

- Arre.


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